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FROM-THE-  LIBRARY-OF 
TRINITYCOLLEGE-TORDNTO 


PRESENTED    A.D. 

BY    Professor   D.D.C.    Chambers 


COMMENTARY 


FOUE      GOSPELS, 


COLLECTED  OUT  OF  THE 


WORKS  OF  THE  FATHERS 


S.     THOMAS    AQUINAS. 


VOL.  I. 
ST.  MATTHEW.      PART  III. 


OXFORD, 

JOHN  HENRY  PARKER  J 

J.   G.   F.   AND  J.   RIVINGTON,  LONDON. 

MDCCCXUI. 


(64! 

J.I    p(r.  3 


BAXTER,  PRINTER,  OXFORD. 

1J.0773 

MAR      4 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

THE  following  Compilation  not  being  admissible  into  the 
Library  of  the  Fathers  from  the  date  of  some  few  of  the 
authors  introduced  into  it,  the  Editors  of  the  latter  work 
have  been  led  to  publish  it  in  a  separate  form,  being  assured 
that  those  who  have  subscribed  to  their  Translations  of  the 
entire  Treatises  of  the  ancient  Catholic  divines,  will  not  feel 
less  interest,  or  find  less  benefit,  in  the  use  of  so  very 
judicious  and  beautiful  a  selection  from  them.  The  Editors 
refer  to  the  Preface  for  some  account  of  the  natural  and 
characteristic  excellences  of  the  work,  which  will  be  found 
as  useful  in  the  private  study  of  the  Gospels,  as  it  is  well 
adapted  for  family  reading,  and  full  of  thought  for  those  who 
are  engaged  in  religious  instruction. 

Oxford,  May  6,  1841. 


COMMENTARY 


GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  MATTHEW. 


VOL.  I.     PART  III. 


VOL.  I.  3  B 


CHAP.  XXII. 

1.  And  Jesus  answered  and  spake  unto  them  again 
by  parables,  and  said, 

2.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  certain 
king,  which  made  a  marriage  for  his  son, 

3.  And  sent  forth  his  servants  to  call  them  that 
were  bidden  to   the  wedding :    and  they  would  not 
come. 

4.  Again,   he   sent   forth   other   servants,  saying, 
Tell  them  which  are  bidden,  Behold,  I  have  prepared 
my  dinner :  my  oxen  and  my  fatlings  are  killed,  and 
all  things  are  ready :  come  unto  the  marriage. 

5.  But  they  made  light  of  it,  and  went  their  ways, 
one  to  his  farm,  another  to  his  merchandise : 

6.  And  the   remnant  took   his   servants,  and  en 
treated  them  spitefully,  and  slew  them. 

7.  But  when  the  king  heard  thereof,  he  was  wroth  : 
and  he   sent  forth  his  armies,  and   destroyed  those 
murderers,  and  burned  up  their  city. 

8.  Then  saith  he  to  his  servants,  The  wedding  is 
ready,  but  they  which  were  bidden  were  not  worthy. 

9.  Go  ye  therefore  into  the  highways,  and  as  many 
as  ye  shall  find,  bid  to  the  marriage. 

10.  So  those  servants  went  out  into  the  highways, 
and  gathered  together  all  as  many  as   they  found, 
both  bad  and  good  :  and  the  wedding  was  furnished 
with  guests. 


VER.   1 14.  ST.  MATTHEW.  739 

11.  And  when  the  king  came  in  to  see  the  guests, 
he  saw  there  a  man  which  had  not  on  a  wedding 
garment : 

12.  And  he  saith  unto  him,  Friend,  how  earnest 
thou  in  hither  not  having  a  wedding  garment  ?    And 
he  was  speechless. 

13.  Then  said' the  king  to  the  servants,  Bind  him 
hand  and  foot,  and  take  him   away,  and  cast  him 
into   outer   darkness ;    there   shall   be  weeping   and 
gnashing  of  teeth. 

14.  For  many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen. 

CHRYS.  Forasmuch  as  He  had  said,  And  it  shall  be  given  chrys. 
to  a  nation  bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof,  He  now  pro-  H?m- 
ceeds  to  shew  what  nation  that  is.     GLOSS.  Answered,  that  Gloss. 
is,  meeting  their  evil  thoughts  of  putting  Him  to  death.   AUG.  ^*"  ™'e 
This  parable  is  related  only  by  Matthew.     Luke  gives  onec°c»- 
like  it,  but  it  is  not  the  same,  as  the  order  shews.     GREG.  Greg. 
Here,  by  the  wedding-feast  is  denoted  the  present  Church ;  **om.  in 
there,  by  the  supper,  the  last  and  eternal  feast.     For  into  xxxviii. 
this  enter  some  who  shall  perish;   into  that  whosoever  has2' 
once  entered   in   shall    never    be    put  forth.     But  if   any 
should  maintain  that  these  are  the  same  lessons,  we  may 
perhaps  explain  that  that  part  concerning  the  guest  who  had 
come  in  without  a  wedding  garment,  which  Luke  has  not 
mentioned,   Matthew   has  related.     That  the   one   calls  it 
supper,  the  other  dinner,  makes  no  difference ;   for  with  the 
ancients  the  dinner  was  at  the  ninth  hour,  and  was  therefore 
often  called  supper.     ORIGEN  ;  The  kingdom  of  heaven,  in 
respect  of  Him  who  reigns  there,  is  like  a  king ;   in  respect 
of  Him  who  shares  the  kingdom,  it  is  like  a  king's  son ;   in 
respect  of  those  things  which  are  in  the  kingdom,  it  is  like 
servants  and  guests,  and  among  them  the  king's  armies.     It 
is  specified,  A  man  that  is  a  king,  that  what  is  spoken  may 
be  as  by  a  man  to  men,  and  that  a  man  may  regulate  men 
unwilling  to  be  regulated  by  God.     But  the   kingdom  of 
heaven  will  then  cease  to  be  like  a  man,  when  zeal  and  con 
tention  and  all  other  passions  and  sins  having  ceased,  we 

3  B  2 


740  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

shall  cease  to  walk  after  men,  and  shall  see  Him  as  He  is. 
For  now  we  see  Him  not  as  He  is,  but  as  He  has  been  made 
Greg,  for  us  m  Our  dispensation.  GREG.  God  the  Father  made  a 
p*  a  marriage  feast  for  God  the  Son,  when  He  joined  Him  to 
human  nature  in  the  womb  of  the  Virgin.  But  far  be  it 
from  us  to  conclude,  that  because  marriage  takes  place 
between  two  separate  persons,  that  therefore  the  person  of 
our  Redeemer  was  made  up  of  two  separate  persons.  We  say 
indeed  that  He  exists  of  two  natures,  and  in  two  natures,  but 
we  hold  it  unlawful  to  believe  that  He  was  compounded  of 
two  persons.  It  is  safer  therefore  to  say,  that  the  marriage  feast 
was  made  by  the  King  the  Father  for  the  King  the  Son  when 
He  joined  to  Him  the  Holy  Church  in  the  mystery  of  His 
incarnation.  The  womb  of  the  Virgin  Mother  was  the  bride- 
chamber  of  this  Bridegroom.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Otherwise ; 
When  the  resurrection  of  the  saints  shall  be,  then  the  life, 
which  is  Christ,  shall  revive  man,  swallowing  up  his  mortality 
in  its  own  immortality.  For  now  we  receive  the  Holy  Spirit 
as  a  pledge  of  the  future  union,  but  then  we  shall  have  Christ 
Himself  more  fully  in  us.  ORIGEN  ;  Or,  by  the  marriage  of 
Bridegroom  with  Bride,  that  is,  of  Christ  with  the  soul, 
understand  the  Assumption  of  the  Word,  the  produce  whereof 
is  good  works.  HILARY  ;  Rightly  has  the  Father  already 
made  this  wedding,  because  this  eternal  union  and  espousal 
of  the  new  body  is  already  perfect  in  Christ.  PSEUDO-CHRYS. 
When  the  servants  were  sent  to  call  them,  they  must  have 
been  invited  before.  Men  have  been  invited  from  the  time 
of  Abraham,  to  whom  was  promised  Christ's  incarnation. 
JEROME;  He  sent  his  servant,  without  doubt  Moses,  by 
whom  He  gave  the  Law,  to  those  who  had  been  invited. 
But  if  you  read  servants  as  most  copies  have,  it  must  be 
referred  to  the  Prophets,  by  whom  they  were  invited,  but 
neglected  to  come.  By  the  -servants  who  were  sent  the 
second  time,  we  may  better  understand  the  Prophets  than 
the  Apostles ;  that  is  to  say,  if  servant  is  read  in  the  first 
place ;  but  if '  servants,'  then  by  the  second  servants  are  to 
be  understood  the  Apostles;  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  whom  He 
Mat.  10,  sent  when  He  said  unto  them,  Go  not  into  the  way  of  the 
6*  Gentiles,  but  rather  go  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel.  ORIGEN  ;  Or ;  The  servants  who  were  first  sent  to 


VER.  1 — 14.  ST.  MATTHEW. 

call  them  that  were  bidden  to  the  wedding,  are  to  be  taken 
as  the  Prophets  converting  the  people  by  their  prophecy  to 
the  festival  of  the  restoration  of  the  Church  to  Christ.  They 
who  would  not  come  at  the  first  message  are  they  who  refused 
to  hear  the  words  of  the  Prophets.  The  others  who  were 
sent  a  second  time  were  another  assembly  of  Prophets. 
HILARY  ;  Or ;  The  servants  who  were  first  sent  to  call  them 
that  were  bidden,  are  the  Apostles ;  they  who,  being  before 
bidden,  are  now  invited  to  come  in,  are  the  people  of  Israel, 
who  had  before  been  bidden  through  die  Law  to  the  glories 
of  eternity.  To  the  Apostles  therefore  it  belonged  to  remind 
those  whom  the  Prophets  had  invited.  Those  sent  with  the 
second  injunction  are  the  Apostolic  men  their  successors, 

GREG.  But  because  these  who  were  first  invited  would  Gr.e&- 
not  come  to  the  feast,  the  second  summons  says,  Behold,  I 
have  prepared  my  dinner.  JEROME  ;  The  dinner  that  is 
prepared,  the  oxen  and  the  fallings  that  are  killed,  is  either 
a  description  of  regal  magnificence  by  the  way  of  metaphor, 
that  by  carnal  things  spiritual  may  be  understood ;  or  the 
greatness  of  the  doctrines,  and  the  manifold  teaching  of  God 
in  His  law,  may  be  understood.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  When 
therefore  the  Lord  bade  the  Apostles,  Go  ye  and  preach, 
saying,  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand,  it  was  the  same 
message  as  is  here  given,  I  have  prepared  my  dinner ;  i.  e. 
I  have  set  out  the  table  of  Scripture  out  of  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets.  GREG.  By  the  oxen  are  signified  the  Fathers  Greg, 
of  the  Old  Testament;  who  by  sufferance  of  the  Law  gored ubisup' 
their  enemies  with  the  horn  of  bodily  strength.  By  failings 
are  meant  fatted  animals,  for  from  '  alere',  comes  '  altilia,'  as 
it  were  *  alitilia'  or  '  alita.'  By  the  fallings  are  intended 
the  Fathers  of  the  New  Testament ;  who  while  they  receive 
sweet  grace  of  inward  fattening,  are  raised  by  the  wing  of 
contemplation  from  earthly  desires  to  things  above.  He 
says  therefore,  My  oxen  and  my  fallings  are  killed;  as  much 
as  to  say,  Look  to  the  deaths  of  the  Fathers  who  have 
been  before  you,  and  desire  some  amendment  of  your  lives. 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Otherwise ;  He  says  oxen  and  failings, 
not  as  though  the  oxen  were  not  fatted,  but  because  all 
the  oxen  were  not  fat.  Therefore  the  failings  denote  the 
Prophets  who  were  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit;  the  oxen 


742  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

those  who  were  both  Priests  and  Prophets,  as  Jeremiah  and 
Ezeldel ;  for  as  the  oxen  are  the  leaders  of  the  herd,  so  also 
the  Priests  are  leaders  of  the  people.  HILARY  ;  Or  other 
wise  ;  The  oxen  are  the  glorious  army  of  Martyrs,  offered, 
like  choice  victims,  for  the  confession  of  God ;  the  fatlings 
are  spiritual  men,  as  birds  fed  for  flight  upon  heavenly  food, 
that  they  may  fill  others  with  the  abundance  of  the  food  they 
Greg,  have  eaten.  GREG.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  in  the  first 
lp' invitation  nothing  was  said  of  the  oxen  or  fatlings,  but  in 
the  second  it  is  announced  that  they  are  already  killed, 
because  Almighty  God  when  we  will  not  hear  His  words 
gives  examples,  that  what  we  suppose  impossible  may  become 
easy  to  us  to  surmount,  when  we  hear  that  others  have  passed 
through  it  before  us.  ORIGEN;  Or;  The  dinner  which  is 
prepared  is  the  oracle  of  God ;  and  so  the  more  mighty  of 
the  oracles  of  God  are  the  oxen ;  the  sweet  and  pleasant  are 
the  fatlings.  For  if  any  one  bring  forward  feeble  words, 
without  power,  and  not  having  strong  force  of  reason,  these 
are  the  lean  things ;  the  fatlings  are  when  to  the  establish 
ment  of  each  proposition  many  examples  are  brought  for 
ward  backed  by  reasonable  proofs.  For  example,  supposing 
one  holding  discourse  of  chastity,  it  might  well  be  repre 
sented  by  the  turtle-dove ;  but  should  he  bring  forward  the 
same  holy  discourse  full  of  reasonable  proof  out  of  Scripture, 
so  as  to  delight  and  strengthen  the  mind  of  his  hearer,  then 
he  brings  the  dove  fatted.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  That  He  says, 
And  all  things  are  now  ready,  means,  that  all  that  is  re 
quired  to  salvation  is  already  filled  up  in  the  Scriptures  j 
there  the  ignorant  may  find  instruction ;  the  self-willed  may 
read  of  terrors ;  he  who  is  in  difficulty  may  there  find  pro- 
Gloss,  mises  to  rouse  him  to  activity.  GLOSS.  Or,  All  things  are 
interim.  n()/U}  reaay^  j.  e.  The  entrance  into  the  kingdom,  which  had 
been  hitherto  closed,  is  now  ready  through  faith  in  My  incar- 
Pseudo-  nation.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Or  He  says,  All  things  are  now 
Chrys.  reaiiy  wnich  belong  to  the  mystery  of  the  Lord's  Passion, 

mm  occ.  y  *•  j         j 

sed  vid.  and  our  redemption.  He  says,  Come  to  the  marriage,  not 
with  your  feet,  but  with  faith,  and  good  conduct.  But  they 
made  light  of  it ;  why  they  did  so  He  shews  when  He 
adds,  And  they  went  their  way,  one  to  his  farm,  another 
to  his  merchandize.  CHRYS.  These  occupations  seem  to  be 


VER.  1 — 14.  ST.  MATTHEW.  743 

entirely  reasonable;  but  we  learn  hence,  that  however  ne 
cessary  the  things  that  take  up  our  time,  we  ought  to  prefer 
spiritual  things  to  every  thing  beside.  But  it  seems  to  me 
that  they  only  pretended  these  engagements  as  a  cloak  for 
their  disregard  of  the  invitation.  HILARY;  For  men  are 
taken  up  with  worldly  ambition  as  with  a  farm ;  and  many 
through  covetousness  are  engrossed  with  trafficking.  PSEUDO- 
CHRYS.  Or  otherwise ;  When  we  work  with  the  labour  of 
our  hands,  for  example,  cultivating  our  field  or  our  vineyard, 
or  any  manufacture  of  wood  or  iron,  we  seem  to  be  occupied 
with  OUT  farm  ;  any  other  mode  of  getting  money  unattended 
with  manual  labour  is  here  called  merchandize.  O  most 
miserable  world !  and  miserable  ye  that  follow  it !  The 
pursuits  of  this  world  have  ever  shut  men  out  of  life.  GREG. 
Whosoever  then  intent  upon  earthly  business,  or  devoted 
to  the  actions  of  this  world,  feigns  to  be  meditating  upon  the 
mystery  of  the  Lord's  Passion,  and  to  be  living  accordingly, 
is  he  that  refuses  to  come  to  the  King's  wedding  on  pretext 
of  going  to  his  farm  or  his  merchandize.  Nay  often,  which 
is  worse,  some  who  are  called  not  only  reject  the  grace,  but 
become  persecutors,  And  the  remnant  took  his  servants,  and 
entreated  them  despitefully^  and  slew  them.  PSEUDO-CHRYS. 
Or,  by  the  business  of  a  farm,  He  denotes  the  Jewish  popu 
lace,  whom  the  delights  of  this  world  separated  from  Christ ; 
by  the  excuse  of  merchandize,  the  Priests  and  other  ministers 
of  the  Temple,  who,  coming  to  the  service  of  the  Law  and 
the  Temple  through  greediness  of  gain,  have  been  shut  out 
of  the  faith  by  covetousness.  Of  these  He  said  not,  '  They 
were  filled  with  envy,'  but  They  made  light  of  it.  For  they 
who  through  hate  and  spite  crucified  Christ,  are  they  who 
were  filled  with  envy;  but  they  who  being  entangled  in  busi 
ness  did  not  believe  on  Him,  are  not  said  to  have  been  filled 
with  envy,  but  to  have  made  light  of  it.  The  Lord  is  silent 
respecting  His  own  death,  because  He  had  spoken  of  it  in 
the  foregoing  parable,  but  He  shews  forth  the  death  of  His 
disciples,  whom  after  His  ascension  the  Jews  put  to  death, 
stoning  Stephen  and  executing  James  the  son  of  Alphaeus, 
for  which  things  Jerusalem  was  destroyed  by  the  Romans. 
And  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  anger  is  attributed  to  God  figu 
ratively  and  not  properly;  He  is  then  said  to  be  angry  when 


744  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

He  punishes.     JEROME  ;  When  He  was  doing  works  of  mercy, 

homini  and  bidding  to  His  marriage-feast,  He  was  called  a  man; 
now  when  He  comes  to  vengeance,  the  man  is  dropped,  and 
He  is  called  only  a  King.  ORIGEN;  Let  those  who  sin 
against  the  God  of  the  Law,  and  the  Prophets,  and  the  whole 
creation,  declare  whether  He  who  is  here  called  man,  and 
is  said  to  be  angry,  is  indeed  the  Father  Himself.  If  they 
allow  this,  they  will  be  forced  to  own  that  many  things  are 
said  of  Him  applicable  to  the  passible  nature  of  man;  not 
for  that  He  has  passions,  but  because  He  is  represented  to 
us  after  the  manner  of  passible  human  nature.  In  this  way 
we  take  God's  anger,  repentance,  and  the  other  things  of  the 
like  sort  in  the  Prophets.  JEROME;  By  His  armies  we 
understand  the  Romans  under  Vespasian  and  Titus,  who 
having  slaughtered  the  inhabitants  of  Judaea,  laid  in  ashes 
the  faithless  city.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  The  Roman  army  is 

Ps. 24,  called  God's  army;  because  The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and 
the  fulness  thereof;  nor  would  the  Romans  have  come  to 

Greg.    Jerusalem,  had  not  the  Lord  stirred  them  thither.     GREG. 

ubi  SUP'  Or,  The  armies  of  our  King  are  the  legions  of  His  Angels. 
He  is  said  therefore  to  have  sent  His  armies,  and  to  have 
destroyed  those  murderers,  because  all  judgment  is  executed 
upon  men  by  the  Angels.  He  destroys  those  murderers, 
when  He  cuts  off  persecutors;  and  burns  up  their  city, 
because  not  only  their  souls,  but  the  body  of  flesh  they  had 
tenanted,  is  tormented  in  the  everlasting  fire  of  hell.  ORIGEN; 
Or,  the  city  of  those  wicked  men  is  in  each  doctrine  the 
assembly  of  those  who  meet  in  the  wisdom  of  the  rulers 
of  this  world;  which  the  King  sets  fire  to  and  destroys,  as 
consisting  of  evil  buildings. 

Greg.  GREG.  But  when  He  sees  that  His  invitation  is  spurned  at, 
ubi  sup.  jje  wyj  not  have  jjis  Son's  marriage-feast  empty;  the  word  of 
God  will  find  where  it  may  stay  itself.  ORIGEN  ;  He  saith  to  His 
servants,  that  is,  to  the  Apostles;  or  to  the  Angels,  who  were 
set  over  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles,  The  wedding  is  ready. 
REMIG.  That  is,  the  whole  sacrament  of  the  human  dispens 
ation  is  completed  and  closed.  But  they  which  were  bidden, 

Kom  10  ^at  ig>  the  JGWS>  were  not  worthy,  because,  ignorant  of  the 

3.  righteousness  of  God,  and  going  about  to  establish  their  own 
righteousness,  they  have  not  submitted  themselves  to  the 


VER.   1 14.  ST.  MATTHEW.  745 

righteousness  of  God.  The  Jewish  nation  then  being  rejected, 
the  Gentile  people  were  taken  in  to  the  marriage-feast; 
whence  it  follows,  Go  ye  out  into  the  crossings  of  the  streets, 
and  as  many  as  ye  shall  jfind,  bid  to  the  wedding.  JEROME  ; 
For  the  Gentile  nation  was  not  in  the  streets,  but  in  the  cross 
ings  of  the  streets.  REMIG.  These  are  the  errors  of  the 
Gentiles.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Or;  The  streets  are  all  the  pro 
fessions  of  this  world,  as  philosophy,  soldiery,  and  the  like. 
And  therefore  He  says,  Go  out  into  the  crossings  of  the 
streets,  that  they  may  call  to  the  faith  men  of  every  con 
dition.  Moreover,  as  chastity  is  the  way  that  leads  to  God, 
so  fornication  is  the  way  that  leads  to  the  Devil ;  and  so  it 
is  in  the  other  virtues  and  vices.  Thus  He  bids  them  invite 
to  the  faith  men  of  every  profession  or  condition.  HILARY; 
By  the  street  also  is  to  be  understood  the  time  of  this  world, 
and  they  are  therefore  bid  to  go  to  the  crossings  of  the  streets, 
because  the  past  is  remitted  to  all.  GREG.  Or  otherwise;  Greg. 
In  holy  Scripture,  way  is  taken  to  mean  actions;  so  that  p' 
the  crossings  of  the  ways  we  understand  as  failure  in  action, 
for  they  usually  come  to  God  readily,  who  have  had  little 
prosperity  in  worldly  actions.  ORIGEN  ;  Or  otherwise ;  I 
suppose  this  first  bidding  to  the  wedding  to  have  been  a 
bidding  of  some  of  the  more  noble  minds.  For  God  would 
have  those  before  all  come  to  the  feast  of  the  divine  oracles 
who  are  of  the  more  ready  wit  to  understand  them;  and 
forasmuch  as  they  who  are  such  are  loth  to  come  to  that 
kind  of  summons,  other  servants  are  sent  to  move  them  to 
come,  and  to  promise  that  they  shall  find  the  dinner  pre 
pared.  For  as  in  the  things  of  the  body,  one  is  the  bride, 
others  the  inviters  to  the  feast,  and  they  that  are  bidden  are 
others  again ;  so  God  knows  the  various  ranks  of  souls,  and 
their  powers,  and  the  reasons  why  these  are  taken  into  the 
condition  of  the  Bride,  others  in  the  rank  of  the  servants 
that  call,  and  others  among  the  number  of  those  that  are 
bidden  as  guests.  But  they  who  had  been  thus  especially 
invited  contemned  the  first  inviters  as  poor  in  understanding, 
and  went  their  way,  following  their  own  devices,  as  more 
delighting  in  them  than  in  those  things  which  the  King  by 
his  servants  promised.  Yet  are  these  more  venial  than  they 
who  ill-treat  and  put  to  death  the  servants  sent  unto  them; 


746  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

those,  that  is,  who  daringly  assail  with  weapons  of  conten 
tious  words  the  servants  sent,  who  are  unequal  to  solve  their 
subtle  difficulties,  and  those  are  illtreated  or  put  to  death  by 
them.  The  servants  going  forth  are  either  Christ's  Apostles 
going  from  Judaea  and  Jerusalem,  or  the  Holy  Angels  from 
the  inner  worlds,  and  going  to  the  various  ways  of  various 
manners,  gathered  together  whomsoever  they  found,  not 
caring  whether  before  their  calling  they  had  been  good  or 
bad.  By  the  good  here  we  may  understand  simply  the  more 
humble  and  upright  of  those  who  come  to  the  worship  of 
Rom.  2,  God,  to  whom  agreed  what  the  Apostle  says,  When  the 
Gentiles  which  have  not  the  Law  do  by  nature  the  things 
contained  in  the  Law,  they  are  a  law  unto  themselves. 
JEROME;  For  there  is  an  infinite  difference  among  the 
Gentiles  themselves ;  some  are  more  prone  to  vice,  others 
are  endowed  with  more  incorrupt  and  virtuous  manners. 
Greg.  GREG.  Or;  He  means  that  in  this  present  Church  there 
ubisup.  cannot  De  bad  without  good,  nor  good  without  bad.  He  is 
not  good  who  refuses  to  endure  the  bad.  ORIGEN  ;  The 
marriage-feast  of  Christ  and  the  Church  is  filled,  when  they 
who  were  found  by  the  Apostles,  being  restored  to  God,  sat 
down  to  the  feast.  But  since  it  behoved  that  both  bad  and  good 
should  be  called,  not  that  the  bad  should  continue  bad,  but  that 
they  should  put  off  the  garments  unmeet  for  the  wedding,  and 
should  put  on  the  marriage  garments,  to  wit,  bowels  of  mercy 
and  kindness,  for  this  cause  the  King  goes  out,  that  He  may 
see  them  set  down  before  the  supper  is  set  before  them,  that 
they  may  be  detained  who  have  the  wedding  garment  in  which 
He  is  delighted,  and  that  he  may  condemn  the  opposite. 

PSEUDO-CHRYS.  The  King  came  in  to  see  the  guests ;  not  as 
though  there  was  any  place  where  He  is  not ;  but  where 
He  will  look  to  give  judgment,  there  He  is  said  to  be  present; 
where  He  will  not,  there  He  seems  to  be  absent.  The  day 
of  His  coming  to  behold  is  the  day  of  judgment,  when  He 
will  visit  Christians  seated  at  the  board  of  the  Scriptures. 
ORIGEN;  But  when  He  was  come  in,  He  found  there  one 
who  had  not  put  off  his  old  behaviour ;  He  saw  there  a  man 
which  had  not  on  a  wedding  garment.  He  speaks  of  one 
only,  because  all,  who  after  faith  continue  to  serve  that 
wickedness  which  they  had  before  the  faith,  are  but  of  one 


VER.  1 14.  ST.  MATTHEW.  747 

kind.      GREG.  What  ought  we  to  understand  by  the  wedding  Greg, 
garment,  but  charity?     For  this  the  Lord  had  upon  Him, ubl  sup* 
when  He  came  to  espouse  the  Church  to  Himself.     He  then 
enters  in  to  the  wedding  feast,  but  without  the  wedding 
garment,  who  has  faith  in  the  Church,  but  not  charity.     AUG.  Aug. 
Or,  he  goes  to  the  feast  without  a  garment,  who  goes  seeking  F°au3't 
his  own,  and  not  the  Bridegroom's  honour.      HILARY  ;    Or ;  xx»«  19. 
The  wedding  garment  is  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the 
purity  of  that  heavenly  temper,  which  taken  up  on  the  confes 
sion  of  a  good  enquiry  is  to  be  preserved  pure  and  unspotted 
for  the  company  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.      JEROME;    Or? 
The  marriage  garment  is  the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  and 
the  works  which  are  done  under  the  Law  and  the  Gospel,  and 
form   the   clothing   of  the  new  man.     Whoso    among   the 
Christian  body  shall  be  found  in  the  day  of  judgment  not  to 
have  these,  is  straightway  condemned.     He  saith  unto  him, 
Friend,  how  earnest  thou  in  hither,  not  having  a  wedding 
garment  ?    He  calls  Trim  friend,  because  he  was  invited  to  the 
wedding  as  being  a  friend  by  faith;   but  He  charges  him 
with  want  of  manners  in  polluting  by  his  filthy  dress  the 
elegance  of  the  wedding  entertainment. 

ORIGEN  ;  And  forasmuch  as  he  who  is  in  sin,  and  puts  not  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  has  no  excuse,  it  follows,  But  he  was 
speechless.   JEROME  ;  For  in  that  day  there  will  be  no  room  for 
blustering  manner1,  nor  power  of  denial,  when  all  the  Angels  and »  al.  pee- 
the  world  itself  are  witnesses  against  the  sinner.    ORIGEN  ;  He  mtentlffi- 
who  has  thus  insulted  the  marriage  feast  is  not  only  cast  out 
therefrom,  but  besides  by  the  King's  officers,  who  are  set 
over  his  prisons,  is  chained  up  from  that  power  of  walking 
which  he  employed  not   to  walk  to  any  good   thing,  and 
that  power  of  reaching  forth  his  hand,  wherewith  he  had 
fulfilled  no  work  for  any  good ;  and  is  sentenced  to  a  place 
whence  all  light  is  banished,  which  is  called  outer  darkness. 
GREG.  The  hands  and  feet  are  then  bound  by  a  severe  sen-  Greg, 
tence  of  judgment,  which  before  refused  to  be  bound  from ubi  SUP* 
wicked  actions  by  amendment  of  life.     Or  punishment  binds 
them,  whom  sin  had  before  bound  from  good  works.     AUG.  Aug.  de 
The  bonds  of  wicked  and  depraved  desires  are  the  chains  Jrin-xi- 
which   bind  him  who  deserves  to   be  cast  out  into   outer 
darkness.     GREG.  By  inward  darkness  we  express  blindness,  Greg. 

ubi  sup. 


748  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

of  heart;  outer  darkness  signifies  the  everlasting  night  of 
damnation.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Or,  it  points  to  the  difference 
of  punishment  inflicted  on  sinners.  Outer  darkness  being 
the  deepest,  inward  darkness  the  lesser,  as  it  were  the  out 
skirts  of  the  place.  JEROME  ;  By  a  metaphor  taken  from  the 
body,  there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth,  is  shewn 
the  greatness  of  the  torments.  The  binding  of  the  hands  and 
feet  also,  and  the  weeping  of  eyes,  and  the  gnashing  of  teeth, 
understand  as  proving  the  truth  of  the  resurrection  of  the 

Greg.  body.  GREG.  There  shall  gnash  those  teeth  which  here 
'  delighted  in  gluttony;  there  shall  weep  those  eyes  which 
here  roamed  in  illicit  desire ;  every  member  shall  there  have 
its  peculiar  punishment,  which  here  was  a  slave  to  its  peculiar 
vice.  JEROME  ;  And  because  in  the  marriage  and  supper  the 
chief  thing  is  the  end  and  not  the  beginning,  therefore  He 
adds,  For  many  are  called,  but  few  chosen.  HILARY  ;  For 
to  invite  all  without  exception  is  a  courtesy  of  public  bene 
volence  ;  but  out  of  the  invited  or  called,  the  election  will  be 

Greg,  of  worth,  by  distinction  of  merit.  GREG.  For  some  never 
begin  a  good  course,  and  some  never  continue  in  that  good 
course  which  they  have  begun.  Let  each  one's  care  about 
himself  be  in  proportion  to  his  ignorance  of  what  is  yet  to 
come.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Or  otherwise  ;  Whenever  God  will 
try  His  Church,  He  enters  into  it  that  He  may  see  the  guests ; 
and  if  He  finds  any  one  not  having  on  the  wedding  garment, 
He  enquires  of  him,  How  then  were  you  made  a  Christian,  if 
you  neglect  these  works  ?  Such  a  one  Christ  gives  over  to 
His  ministers,  that  is,  to  seducing  leaders,  who  bind  his 
hands,  that  is,  his  works,  and  his  feet,  that  is,  the  motions  of 
his  mind,  and  cast  him  into  darkness,  that  is,  into  the  errors 
of  the  Gentiles  or  the  Jews,  or  into  heresy.  The  nigher 
darkness  is  that  of  the  Gentiles,  for  they  have  never  heard  the 
truth  which  they  despise ;  the  outer  darkness  is  that  of  the 
Jews,  who  have  heard  but  do  not  believe ;  the  outermost  is 
that  of  the  heretics,  who  have  heard  and  have  learned. 

15.  Then   went  the   Pharisees,  and  took   counsel 
how  they  might  entangle  him  in  his  talk. 

16.  And  they  sent  out  unto  him  their  disciples  with 
the  Herodians,  saying,  Master,  we  know  that  thou 


VER.   15 — 22.  ST.  MATTHEW.  749 

art  true,  and  teachest  the  way  of  God  in  truth, 
neither  carest  thou  for  any  man :  for  thou  regardest 
not  the  person  of  men. 

17.  Tell   us   therefore,  What  thinkest  thou?     Is 
it  lawful  to  give  tribute  unto  Caesar,  or  not  ? 

18.  But   Jesus   perceived    their    wickedness,    and 
said,  Why  tempt  ye  me,  ye  hypocrites  ? 

1 9.  Shew  me  the  tribute  money.    And  they  brought 
unto  him  a  penny. 

20.  And  he  saith  unto  them,  Whose  is  this  image 
and  superscription? 

21.  They  say  unto  him,  Caesar's.     Then  saith  he 
unto  them,  Render  therefore  unto  Caesar  the  things 
which  are  Csesar's ;  and  unto   God  the  things  that 
are  God's. 

22.  When  they  had  heard  these  words,  they  mar 
velled,  and  left  him,  and  went  their  way. 

PSEUDO-CHRYS.  As  when  one  seeks  to  dam  a  stream  of 
running  water,  as  soon  as  one  outlet  is  stopped  up  it  makes 
another  channel  for  itself;  so  the  malevolence  of  the  Jews, 
foiled  on  one  hand,  seeks  itself  out  another  course.  Then 
went  the  Pharisees ;  went  to  the  Herodians.  Such  as  the 
plan  was,  such  were  the  planners ;  They  send  unto  Him 
their  disciples  with  the  Herodians.  GLOSS.  Who  as  un-  Gloss. 
known  to  Him,  were  more  likely  to  ensnare  Him,  and  soor  ' 
through  them  they  might  take  Him,  which  they  feared  to  do 
of  themselves  because  of  the  populace.  JEROME  ;  Lately 
under  Caesar  Augustus,  Judsea,  which  was  subject  to  the 
Romans,  had  been  made  tributary  when  the  census  was  held 
of  the  whole  world ;  and  there  was  a  great  division  among 
the  people,  some  saying  that  tribute  ought  to  be  paid  to  the 
Romans  in  return  for  the  security  and  quiet  which  their  arms 
maintained  for  all.  The  Pharisees  on  the  other  hand,  self- 
satisfied  in  their  own  righteousness,  contended  that  the  people 
of  God  who  paid  tithes  and  gave  first-fruits,  and  did  all  the 
other  things  which  are  written  in  the  Law,  ought  not  to  be 
subject  to  human  laws.  But  Augustus  had  given  the  Jews 


750  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

as  king,  Herod,  son  of  Antipater,  a  foreigner  and  proselyte ; 
he  was  to  exact  the  tribute,  yet  to  be  subject  to  the  Roman 
dominion.  The  Pharisees  therefore  send  their  disciples  with 
the  Herodians,  that  is,  with  Herod's  soldiers,  or  those  whom 
the  Pharisees  in  mockery  called  Herodians,  because  they 
paid  tribute  to  the  Romans,  and  were  not  devoted  to  the 
Chrys.  worship  of  God.  CHRYS.  They  send  their  disciples  and 
Horn.  Herod's  soldiers  together,  that  whatever  opinion  He  might 
give  might  be  found  fault  with.  Yet  would  they  rather  have 
had  Him  say  somewhat  against  the  Herodians ;  for  being 
themselves  afraid  to  lay  hands  on  Him  because  of  the  popu 
lace,  they  sought  to  bring  Him  into  danger  through  His 
liability  to  pay  tribute.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  This  is  the  com 
monest  act  of  hypocrites,  to  commend  those  they  would  ruin. 
Thus,  these  break  out  into  praises  of  Him,  saying,  Master, 
we  know  that  Thou  art  true.  They  call  Him  Master,  that, 
deceived  by  this  shew  of  honour  and  respect,  He  might  in 
simplicity  open  all  His  heart  to  them,  as  seeking  to  gain  them 
Gloss,  for  disciples.  GLOSS.  There  are  three  ways  in  which  it  is 
non  occ- possible  for  one  not  to  teach  the  truth.  First,  on  the  side  of 
the  teacher,  who  may  either  not  know,  or  not  love  the  truth ; 
guarding  against  this,  they  say,  We  know  that  Thou  art  true. 
Secondly,  on  the  side  of  God,  there  are  some  who,  putting 
aside  all  fear  of  Him,  do  not  utter  honestly  the  truth  which 
they  know  respecting  Him;  to  exclude  this  they  say,  And 
teachest  the  way  of  God  in  truth.  Thirdly,  on  the  side  of 
our  neighbour,  when  through  fear  or  affection  any  one  with 
holds  the  truth ;  to  exclude  this  they  say,  And  carest  for  no 
man,  for  Thou  regardest  not  the  person  of  man.  CHRYS. 
This  was  a  covert  allusion  to  Herod  and  Cajsar.  JEROME  ; 
This  smooth  and  treacherous  enquiry  was  a  kind  of  challenge 
to  the  answerer  to  fear  God  rather  than  Caesar,  and  imme 
diately  they  say,  Tell  us  therefore,  what  thinkest  Thou  ?  Is 
it  lawful  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar  or  not  ?  Should  He  say 
tribute  should  not  be  paid,  the  Herodians  would  immediately 
accuse  Him  as  a  person  disaffected  to  the  Emperor.  CHRYS. 
They  knew  that  certain  had  before  suffered  death  for  this 
very  thing,  as  plotting  a  rebellion  against  the  Romans,  there 
fore  they  sought  by  such  discourse  to  bring  Him  into  the 
same  suspicion.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  He  makes  an  answer  not 


VER.  15 22.  ST.  MATTHEW.  751 

corresponding  to  the  smooth  tone  of  their  address,  but  harsh, 
suitable   to    their   cruel  thoughts;    for    God    answers  men's 
hearts,  and   not  their  words.     JEROME;   This   is   the  first 
excellence  of  the  answerer,  that  He  discerns  the  thoughts  of 
His  examiners,  and  calls  them  not  disciples  but  tempters. 
A  hypocrite  is  he  who  is  one  thing,  and  feigns  himself  another. 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.    He    therefore   calls  them  hypocrites,  that 
seeing  Him  to  be  a  discemer  of  human  hearts,  they  might 
not  be  hardy  enough  to  carry  through  their  design.    Observe 
thus  how  the  Pharisees  spoke  fair  that  they  might  destroy 
Him,  but  Jesus  put  them  to  shame  that  He  might  save  them; 
for  God's  wrath  is  more  profitable  to  man,  than  man's  favour. 
JEROME;  Wisdom  does  ever  wisely,  and  so  the  tempters  are 
best  confuted  out  of  their  own  words ;  therefore  it  follows, 
Shew  me  the  tribute  money ;  and  they  brought  unto  Him  a 
denarius.     This  was  a  coin  reckoned  equivalent  to  ten  ses 
terces,  and  bore  the  image  of  Caesar.     Let  those  who  think 
that  the  Saviour  asks  because  He  is  ignorant,  learn  from  the 
present  place  that  it  is  not  so,  for  at  all  events  Jesus  must 
have  known  whose  image  was  on  the  coin.     They  say  unto 
Him,  Caesar's;  not  Augustus,  but  Tiberius,  under  whom  also 
the  Lord  suffered.     All  the  Roman  Emperors   were  called 
Caesar,  from  Caius  Caesar  who  first  seized  the  chief  power. 
Render  therefore  unto  C&sar  the  things  which  are  C&sar's; 
i.  e.   the   coin,  tribute,  or  money.      HILARY  ;    For  if  there 
remain  with  us  nothing  that  is  Caesar's,  we  shall  not  be  bound 
by  the  condition  of  rendering  to  him  the  things  that  are  his; 
but  if  we  lean  upon  what  is  his,  if  we  avail  ourselves  of  the 
lawful  protection  of  his  power,  we  cannot  complain  of  it  as  any 
wrong  if  we  are  required  to  render  to  Caesar  the  things  of  Caesar. 
CHRYS.    But  when   you  hear   this   command  to  render  to 
Caesar  the  things  of  Csesar,  know  that  such  things  only  are 
intended  which  in  nothing  are  opposed  to  religion;  if  such 
there   be,  it  is  no  longer   Caesar's  but  the    Devil's  tribute. 
And  moreover,  that  they  might  not  say  that  He  was  subject 
ing  them  to  man,  He  adds,  And  unto  God  the  things  thai 
are  God's.      JEROME  ;    That  is,  tithes,  first-fruits,  oblation, 
and  victims;  as  the  Lord  Himself  rendered  to  Caesar  tribute, 
both  for  Himself  and  for  Peter ;  and  also  rendered  unto  God 
the  things  that  are  God's  in  doing  the  will  of  His  Father. 


752  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

HILARY;  It  behoves  us  also  to  render  unto  God  the  things 
that  are  His,  namely,  body,  soul,  and  will.  For  Caesar's  coin 
is  in  the  gold,  in  which  His  image  was  pourtrayed,  that  is, 
God's  coin,  on  which  the  Divine  image  is  stamped;  give  there 
fore  your  money  to  Caesar,  but  preserve  a  conscience  void  of 
offence  for  God. 

ORIGEN;  From  this  place  we  learn  by  the  Saviour's 
example  not  to  be  allured  by  those  things  which  have 
many  voices  for  them,  and  thence  seem  famous,  but  to 
incline  rather  to  those  things  which  are  spoken  according  to 
some  method  of  reason.  But  we  may  also  understand  this 
place  morally,  that  we  ought  to  give  some  things  to  the 
body  as  a  tribute  to  Caesar,  that  is  to  say,  necessaries.  And 
such  things  as  are  congenial  to  our  souls'  nature,  that  is,  such 
things  as  lead  (o  virtue,  those  we  ought  to  offer  to  God.  They 
then  who  without  any  moderation  inculcate  the  law  of  God, 
and  command  us  to  have  no  care  for  the  things  required  by 
the  body,  are  the  Pharisees,  who  forbad  to  give  tribute  to 
i  Tim.  Caesar,  forbidding  to  marry,  and  commanding  to  abstain 
4'  3'  from  meats,  which  God  hath  created.  They,  on  the  other 
hand,  who  allow  too  much  indulgence  to  the  body  are  the 
Herodians.  But  our  Saviour  would  neither  that  virtue 
should  be  enfeebled  by  immoderate  devotedness  to  the 
flesh;  nor  that  our  fleshly  nature  should  be  oppressed  by 
our  unremitting  efforts  after  virtue.  Or  the  prince  of  this 
world,  that  is,  the  Devil,  is  called  Caesar;  and  we  cannot 
render  to  God  the  things  that  are  God's,  unless  we  have  first 
rendered  to  this  prince  all  that  is  his,  that  is,  have  cast  off  all 
wickedness.  This  moreover  let  us  learn  from  this  place,  that 
to  those  who  tempt  us  we  should  neither  be  totally  silent,  nor 
yet  answer  openly,  but  with  caution,  to  cut  off  all  occasion 
from  those  who  seek  occasion  in  us,  and  teach  without  blame 
the  things  which  may  save  those  who  are  willing  to  be  saved. 
JEROME;  They  who  ought  to  have  believed  did  but 
wonder  at  His  great  wisdom,  that  their  craft  had  found  no 
means  for  ensnaring  Him:  whence  it  follows,  When  they  had 
heard  these  words,  they  marvelled,  and  left  Him,  and  went 
their  way,  carrying  away  their  unbelief  and  wonder  together. 

23.  The  same  day  came   to  him    the  Sadducees, 


VER.  23 — 33.  ST.  MATTHEW.  753 

which  say  that  there  is  no  resurrection,  and  asked 
him, 

24.  Saying,  Master,    Moses   said,  If  a  man  die, 
having  no  children,  his  brother  shall  marry  his  wife, 
and  raise  up  seed  unto  his  brother. 

25.  Now  there  were  with  us  seven  brethren :  and 
the  first,  when  he  had  married  a  wife,  deceased,  and, 
having  no  issue,  left  his  wife  unto  his  brother  t 

26.  Likewise  the  second  also,  and  the  third,  unto 
the  seventh. 

27.  And  last  of  all  the  woman  died  also. 

28.  Therefore  in  the  resurrection  whose  wife  shall 
she  be  of  the  seven  ?   for  they  all  had  her. 

29.  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  Ye  do  err, 
not  knowing  the  Scriptures,  nor  the  power  of  God. 

30.  For  in  the  resurrection  they  neither  marry,  nor 
are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels  of  God 
in  heaven. 

31.  But  as  touching  the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
have  ye  not  read  that  which  was  spoken  unto  you  by 
God,  saying, 

32.  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of 
Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob  ?    God  is  not  the  God  of 
the  dead,  but  of  the  living. 

33.  And  when  the  multitude  heard  this,  they  were 
astonished  at  his  doctrine. 

CHRYS.  The  disciples  of  the  Pharisees  with  the  Herodians 
being  thus  confuted,  the  Sadducees  next  offer  themselves, 
whereas  the  overthrow  of  those  before  them  ought  to  have 
kept  them  back.  But  presumption  is  shameless,  stubborn, 
and  ready  to  attempt  things  impossible.  So  the  Evangelist, 
wondering  at  their  folly,  expresses  this,  saying,  The  same  day 
came  to  him  the  Sadducees.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  As  soon  as  the 
Pharisees  were  gone,  came  the  Sadducees ;  perhaps  with  like 
intent,  for  there  was  a  strife  among  them  who  should  be  the 

VOL.  i.  3  c 


GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

first  to  seize  Him.  Or  if  by  argument  they  should  not  be 
able  to  overcome  Him,  they  might  at  least  by  perseverance 
wear  out  His  understanding.  JEROME  ;  There  were  two 
sects  among  the  Jews,  the  Pharisees  and  the  Sadducees ;  the 
Pharisees  pretended  to  the  righteousness  of  traditions  and 
observances,  whence  they  were  called  by  the  people '  separate.' 
The  Sadducees  (the  word  is  interpreted  '  righteous')  also 
passed  themselves  for  what  they  were  not;  and  whereas  the 
first  believed  the  resurrection  of  body  and  soul,  and  confessed 
both  Angel  and  spirit,  these,  according  to  the  Acts  of  the 

Acta  23,  Apostles,  denied  them  all,  as  it  is  here  also  said,  Who  say 
that  there  is  no  resurrection.  ORIGEN;  They  not  only 
denied  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  but  took  away  the 
immortality  of  the  soul.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  For  the  Devil 
finding  himself  unable  to  crush  utterly  the  religion  of  God, 
brought  in  the  sect  of  the  Sadducees  denying  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead,  thus  breaking  down  all  purpose  of  a  righteous  life, 
for  who  is  there  would  endure  a  daily  struggle  against  him- 

Greg.     self,  unless  he  looked  to  the  hope  of  the  resurrection  ?    GREG. 

xiv.  55.  But  there  are  who  observing  that  the  spirit  is  loosed  from  the 
body,  that  the  flesh  is  turned  to  corruption,  that  the  corrup 
tion  is  reduced  to  dust,  and  that  the  dust  again  is  resolved  into 
the  elements,  so  as  to  be  unseen  by  human  eyes,  despair  of 
the  possibility  of  a  resurrection,  and  while  they  look  upon 
the  dry  bones,  doubt  that  they  can  be  clothed  with  flesh,  and 

Aug.      be  quickened  anew  to  life.      AUG.    But  that  earthy  matter 

88nc  r<  of  which  the  flesh  of  men  is  made  perishes  not  before  God ; 
but  into  whatsoever  dust  or  ashes  reduced,  into  whatsoever 
gases  or  vapours  dispersed,  into  whatsoever  other  bodies 
incorporated,  though  resolved  into  the  elements,  though 
become  the  food  or  part  of  the  flesh  of  animals  or  men,  yet  is 
it  in  a  moment  of  time  restored  to  that  human  soul,  which  at 
the  first  quickened  it  that  it  became  man,  lived  and  grew. 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.  But  the  Sadducees  thought  they  had  now 
discovered  a  most  convincing  argument  in  favour  of  their 

Chrys.    error.     CHRYS.   For  because  death  to  the  Jews,  who  did  all 

)ce*  things  for  the  present  life,  seemed  an  unmixed  evil,  Moses 

ordered  that  the  wife  of  one  who  died  without  sons  should  be 

given  to  his  brother,  that  a  son  might  be  born  to  the  dead 

man  by  his  brother,  and  his  name  should  not  perish,  which 


VER.  23 33.  ST.  MATTHEW.  755 

was  some  alleviation  of  death.  And  none  other  but  a  brother 
or  relation  was  commanded  to  take  the  wife  of  the  dead ; 
otherwise  the  child  born  would  not  have  been  considered  the 
son  of  the  dead ;  and  also  because  a  stranger  could  have  no 
concern  in  establishing  the  house  of  him  that  was  dead,  as  a 
brother  whose  kindred  obliged  him  thereto.  JEROME  ;  As 
they  disbelieved  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  supposed 
that  the  soul  perished  with  the  body,  they  accordingly  invent 
a  fable  to  display  the  fondness  of  the  belief  of  a  resurrection. 
Thus  they  put  forward  a  base  fiction  to  overthrow  the  verity 
of  the  resurrection,  and  conclude  with  asking,  in  Hie  resurrec 
tion  it-hose  shall  site  be  ?  Though  it  might  be  that  such  an 
instance  might  really  occur  in  their  nation. 

AUG.  Mystically ;  by  these  seven  brethren  are  understood  the  Aug- 
wicked,  who  could  not  bring  forth  the  fruit  of  righteousness  in  Ev.i.32. 
the  earth  through  all  the  seven  ages  of  the  world,  during  which, 
this  earth  has  being,  for  afterwards  this  earth  also  shall  pass 
away,  through  which  all  those  seven  passed  away  unfruitful. 

PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Wisely  does  He  first  convict  them  of 
folly,  in  that  they  did  not  read ;  and  afterwards  of  ignorance, 
in  that  they  did  not  know  God.  For  of  diligence  in  reading 
springs  knowledge  of  God,  but  ignorance  is  the  offspring 
of  neglect.  JEROME  ;  They  therefore  err  because  they  know 
not  the  Scriptures ;  and  because  they  know  not  the  power 
of  God.  ORIGEN;  Two  things  there  are  which  He  says 
they  know  not,  the  Scriptures  and  the  power  of  God,  by 
which  is  brought  to  pass  the  resurrection,  and  the  new  life 
in  it.  Or  by  the  power  of  God,  which  the  Lord  here  con 
victs  the  Sadducees  that  they  knew  not,  He  intends  Himself, 
who  was  the  power  of  God;  and  Him  they  knew  not,  as i  Cor.  1, 
not  knowing  the  Scriptures  which  spoke  of  Him ;  and  thence24' 
also  they  believed  not  the  resurrection,  which  He  should 
effect.  But  it  is  asked  when  the  Saviour  says,  Ye  do  err 
not  knowing  the  Scriptures,  if  He  means  that  this  text, 
They  neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  is  in  some 
Scripture,  though  it  is  not  read  in  the  Old  Testament?  We 
say  that  these  very  words  are  indeed  not  found,  but  that  the 
truth  is  in  a  mystery  implied  in  the  moral  sense  of  Scripture ; 
the  Law,  which  is  a  shadow  of  good  things  to  come,  whenever 
it  speaks  of  husbands  and  wives,  speaks  chiefly  of  spiritual 

3  c  2 


756  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

wedlock.  But  neither  this  do  I  find  any  where  spoken  in 
Scripture  that  the  Saints  shall  be  after  their  departure  as  the 
Angels  of  God,  unless  one  will  understand  this  also  to  be 
Gen. is, inferret[  morally;  as  where  it  is  said,  And  thou  shall  go  to 
Gen. 25,  thy  fathers,  and  He  was  gathered  to  his  people.  Or  one 
8>  may  say;  He  blamed  them  that  they  read  not  the  other 
Scriptures  which  are  besides  the  Law,  and  therefore  they 
erred.  Another  says,  That  they  knew  not  the  Scriptures 
of  the  Mosaic  Law,  for  this  reason,  that  they  did  not  sift 
their  divine  sense.  PSETJDO-CHRYS.  Or,  when  He  says,  In 
the  resurrection  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  mar 
riage,  He  referred  to  what  He  had  said,  Ye  know  not  the 
power  of  God ;  but  when  He  proceeded,  /  am  the  God  of 
Abraham,  8$c.  to  that  Ye  know  not  the  Scriptures.  And 
thus  ought  we  to  do;  to  cavillers  first  to  set  forth  Scripture 
authority  on  any  question,  and  then  to  shew  the  grounds  of 
reason ;  but  to  those  who  ask  out  of  ignorance  to  shew  first 
the  reason,  and  then  the  authority.  For  cavillers  ought 
to  be  refuted,  enquirers  taught.  To  these  then  who  put 
their  question  in  ignorance,  He  first  shews  the  reason,  saying, 
In  the  resurrection  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in 
marriage.  JEROME  ;  In  these  words  the  Latin  language 
cannot  follow  the  Greek  idiom.  For  the  Latin  word  'nubere' 
is  correctly  said  only  of  the  woman.  But  we  must  take  it 
so  as  to  understand  marry  of  men,  to  be  given  in  marriage 
of  women.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  In  this  life  that  we  may  die, 
therefore  are  we  born ;  and  we  marry  to  the  end  that  that 
which  death  consumes,  birth  may  replenish;  therefore  where 
the  law  of  death  is  taken  away,  the  cause  of  birth  is  taken 
away  likewise.  HILARY;  It  had  been  enough  to  have  cut 
off  this  opinion  of  the  Sadducees  of  sensual  enjoyment,  that 
where  the  function  ceased,  the  empty  pleasure  of  the  body 
accompanying  it  ceased  also ;  but  He  adds,  But  are  as  the 
Angels  of  God  in  heaven.  CHRYS.  Which  is  an  apt  reply 
to  their  question.  For  their  reason  for  judging  that  there 
would  be  no  resurrection,  was  that  they  supposed  that  their 
condition  when  risen  would  be  the  same ;  this  reason  then 
He  removes  by  shewing  that  their  condition  would  be  altered. 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.  It  should  be  noted,  that  when  He  spoke  of 
fasting,  alms,  and  other  spiritual  virtues,  He  did  not  bring 


VER.  23  -  33.  ST.  MATTHEW.  757 

in  the  comparison  of  Angels,  but  only  here  where  He  speaks 
of  the  ceasing  of  marriage.  For  as  all  acts  of  the  flesh  are 
animal  acts,  but  this  of  lust  especially  so  ;  so  all  the  virtues 
are  angelic  acts,  but  especially  chastity,  by  which  our  nature 
is  bound  to  the  other  virtues.  JEROME  ;  This  that  is  added, 
But  are  as  the  Angels  of  God  in  heaven,  is  an  assurance 
that  our  conversation  in  heaven  shall  be  spiritual.  DIONYS.  Dionys. 
For  then  when  we  shall  be  incorruptible  and  immortal,  by  Nom.  i. 


the  visible  presence  of  God  Himself  we  shall  be  filled  with 
most  chaste  contemplations,  and  shall  share  the  gift  of  light 
to  the  understanding  in  our  impassible  and  immaterial  soul 
after  the  fashion  of  the  exalted  souls  in  heaven  ;  on  which 
account  it  is  said  that  we  shall  be  equal  to  the  Angels. 
HILARY  ;  The  same  cavil  that  the  Sadducees  here  offer 
respecting  marriage  is  renewed  by  many  who  ask  in  what 
form  the  female  sex  shall  rise  again.  But  what  the  authority 
of  Scripture  leads  us  to  think  concerning  the  Angels,  so 
must  we  suppose  that  it  will  be  with  women  in  the  resur 
rection  of  our  species.  AUG.  To  me  they  seem  to  think  Aug.  de 
most  iustly,  who  doubt  not  that  both  sexes  shall  rise  ClY:D,e,i> 

J  J  ...  XXll.  I/. 

again.  For  there  shall  be  no  desire  which  is  the  cause  of 
confusion,  for  before  they  had  sinned  they  were  naked;  and 
that  nature  which  they  then  had  shall  be  preserved,  which 
was  quit  both  of  conception  and  of  child-birth.  Also  the 
members  of  the  woman  shall  not  be  adapted  to  their  former 
use,  but  framed  for  a  new  beauty,  one  by  which  the  beholder 
is  not  allured  to  lust,  which  shall  not  then  be,  but  God's 
wisdom  and  mercy  shall  be  praised,  which  made  that  to 
be  which  was  not,  and  delivered  from  corruption  that  which 
was  made.  JEROME  ;  For  none  could  say  of  a  stone  and 
a  tree  or  inanimate  things,  that  they  shall  not  marry  nor 
be  given  in  marriage,  but  of  such  things  only  as  having 
capacity  for  marriage,  shall  yet  in  a  sort  not  marry.  RABAN. 
These  things  which  are  spoken  concerning  the  conditions  of 
the  resurrection  He  spoke  in  answer  to  their  enquiry,  but  of 
the  resurrection  itself  He  replies  aptly  against  their  unbelief. 
CHRYS.  And  because  they  had  put  forward  Moses  in  their 
question,  He  confutes  them  by  Moses,  adding,  But  concern 
ing  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  have  ye  not  read.  JEROME  ; 
In  proof  of  the  resurrection  there  were  many  plainer  passages 


758  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

Is.  i6    which  He  might  have  cited ;    among  others  that  of  Isaiah, 
29.  jut-  The  dead  shall  be  raised;  they  that  are  in  the  tombs  shall  rise 
Dan!     again  :  and  in  another  place,  Many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the 
12> 2-     dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake.     It  is  enquired  therefore  why 
the  Lord  should  have  chosen  this  testimony    which   seems 
ambiguous,  and  not  sufficiently  belonging  to  the  truth  of  the 
resurrection;  and  as  if  by  this  He  had  proved  the  point  adds, 
He  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living.     We  have 
said  above  that  the  Sadducees  confessed  neither  Angel,  nor 
spirit,  nor  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  taught  also  the  death 
of  the  soul.     But  they  also  received  only  the  five  books  of 
Moses,  rejecting  the  Prophets.     It  would  have  been  foolish 
therefore  to  have  brought  forward  testimonies  whose  authority 
they  did  not  admit.     To  prove  the  immortality  of  &ouls  there 
fore,  He  brings  forward  an  instance  out  of  Moses,  /  am  the 
God  of  Abraham,  8fc.  and  then  straight  subjoins,  He  is  not  the 
God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living;  so  that  having  established 
that  souls  abide  after  death,  (forasmuch  as  God  could  not  be 
the  God  of  those  who  had  no  existence  any  where,)  there 
might  fitly  come  in  the  resurrection  of  bodies  which  had  toge 
ther  with  their  souls  done  good  or  evil.     CHRYS.  How  then 
Rom.     is  it  said  in  another  place,  Whether  we  live  or  die.  we  are  the 

14    8 

Lord's.  This  which  is  said  here  differs  from  that.  The  dead 
are  the  Lord's,  those,  that  is,  who  are  to  live  again,  not 
those  who  have  disappeared  for  ever,  and  shall  not  rise  again. 
HILARY;  It  should  be  further  considered,  that  this  was  said 
to  Moses  at  a  time  when  those  holy  Patriarchs  had  gone  to 
their  rest.  They  therefore  of  whom  He  was  the  God  were  in 
being ;  for  they  could  have  had  nothing,  if  they  had  not  been 
in  being ;  for  in  the  nature  of  things  that,  of  which  somewhat  else 
is,  must  have  itself  a  being ;  so  they  who  have  a  God  must 
themselves  be  alive,  since  God  is  eternal,  and  it  is  not  possible 
that  that  which  is  dead  should  have  that  which  is  eternal.  How 
then  shall  it  be  affirmed  that  those  do  not,  and  shall  not  here 
after,  exist,  of  whom  Eternity  itself  has  said  that  He  is  ?  ORIGEN  ; 
Ex.  3,  God  moreover  is  He  who  says,  /  am  that  I  am;  so  that  it  is 
impossible  that  He  should  be  called  the  God  of  those  who 
are  not.  And  see  that  He  said  not,  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  but  The  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac, 
and  the  God  of  Jacob.  But  in  another  place  He  said  thus, 


VER.  23 — 33.  ST.  MATTHEW.  759 

The  God  of  the  Hebrews  hath  sent  me  unto  thee.    For  they  Exod- 
who  in  comparison  of  other  men  are  most  perfect  before  God,  ' 
have  God  entirely  in  them,  wherefore  He  is  not  said  to  be 
their  God  in  common,  but  of  each  in  particular.     As  when 
we  say,  That  farm  is  theirs,  we  shew  that  each  of  them  does 
not  own  the  whole  of  it ;  but  when  we  say,  That  farm  is  his, 
we  mean  that  he  is  owner  of  the  whole  of  it.     When  then  it 
is  said,  The  God  of  the  Hebrews,  this  shews  their  imperfec 
tion,  that  each  of  them  has  some  small  portion  in  God.    But 
it  is  said,  The  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the 
God  of  Jacob,  because  each  one  of  these  possessed  God  en 
tirely.     And  it  is  to  the  no  small  honour  of  the  Patriarchs 
that  they  lived  to  God.     AUG.  Seasonably  may  we  confute  Aug. 
the  Manichaeans  by  this  same  passage  by  which  the  Sadducees 
were  then  confuted,  for  they  too  though  in  another  manner  deny  xvi- 
the  resurrection.     ID.   God  is  therefore  called  in  particular  Aug.  in 
The  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  o 
Jacob,  because  in  these  three  are  expressed  all  the  modes  of 
begetting  the  sons  of  God.     For  God  begets  most  times  of  a 
good  preacher  a  good  son,  and  of  a  bad  preacher  a  bad  son. 
This  is  signified  in  Abraham,  who  of  a  free  woman  had  a 
believing  son,  and  of  a  bondslave  an  unbelieving  son.    Some 
times  indeed  of  a  good  preacher  He  begets  both  good  and 
bad  sons,  which  is  signified  in  Isaac,  who  of  the  same  free 
woman  begot  one  good  and  the  other  bad.     And  sometimes 
He  begets  good  sons  both  of  good  and  bad  preachers ;  which 
is  signified  in  Jacob,  who  begot  good  sons  both  of  free  women 
and  of  bondmaids.     PSEUDO-CHRYS.  And  see  how  the  assault 
of  the  Jews  against  Christ  becomes  more  faint.     Their  first 
challenge  was  in  a  threatening  tone,  By  what  authority  doest 
thou  these  things,  to  oppose   which   firmness   of  spirit  was 
needed.     Their  second  was  with  guile,  to  meet  which  was 
needed  wisdom.     This  last  was  with  ignorant  presumption 
which  is  easier  to  cope  with  than  the  others.     For  he  that 
thinks  he  knows  somewhat,  when  he  knows  nothing,  is  an  easy 
conquest  for  one  who  has  understanding.     Thus  the  attacks 
of  an  enemy  are  vehement  at  first,  but  if  one  endure  them 
with  a  courageous   spirit,  he  will  find  them   more   feeble. 
And  ivJien  the  multitudes  heard  this,  they  were  astonished  at 
his  doctrine,     REMIG.  Not  the  Sadducees  but  the  multitudes 


760  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

were  astonished.  This  is  daily  done  in  the  Church  ;  when  by 
Divine  inspiration  the  adversaries  of  the  Church  are  over 
come,  the  multitude  of  the  faithful  rejoice. 

34.  But  when  the  Pharisees  had  heard  that  he  had  put 
the  Sadducees  to  silence,  they  were  gathered  together. 

35.  Then  one  of  them,  which  was  a  Lawyer,  asked 
him  a  question,  tempting  him,  and  saying, 

36.  Master,  which  is  the  great  commandment  in 
the  Law  ? 

37.  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and 
with  all  thy  mind. 

38.  This  is  the  first  and  great  commandment. 

39.  And  the  second  is  like  unto  it,  Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbour  as  thyself. 

40.  On  these  two  commandments  hang  all  the  Law 
and  the  Prophets. 

JEROME.  The  Pharisees  having  been   themselves  already 
confuted  (in  the  matter  of  the  denarius),  and  now  seeing  their 
adversaries  also  overthrown,  should  have  taken  warning   to 
attempt  no  further  deceit  against  Him  ;  but  hate  and  jealousy 
are  the  parents  of  impudence.     ORIGEN  ;  Jesus  had  put  the 
Sadducees  to  silence,  to  shew  that  the  tongue  of  falsehood  is 
silenced  by  the  brightness  of  truth.     For  as  it  belongs  to  the 
righteous  man  to  be  silent  when  it  is  good  to  be  silent,  and 
to  speak  when  it  is  good  to  speak,  and  not  to  hold  his  peace ; 
so  it  belongs  to  every  teacher  of  a  lie  not  indeed  to  be  silent, 
but  to  be  silent  as  far  as  any  good  purpose  is  concerned. 
JEROME  ;  The  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  thus  foes  to  one  an 
other,  unite  in  one  common  purpose  to  tempt  Jesus.    PSEUDO- 
CHRYS.  Or  the  Pharisees  meet  together,  that  their  numbers 
may  silence  Him  whom  their  reasonings  could  not  confute  ; 
thus,  while  they  array  numbers  against  Him,  shewing  that 
truth  failed    them;   they    said  among  themselves,   Let  one 
speak  for  all,  and  all  speak,  through  one,  so  if  He  prevail,  the 
victory  may  seem  to  belong  to  all ;  if  He  be  overthrown,  the 
defeat  may  rest  with  Him  alone ;  so  it  follows,  Then  one  of 


VER.  34 — 40.  ST.  MATTHEW.  761 

them,  a  teacher  of  the  Law,  asked  him  a  question,  tempting 
him.     ORIGEN;  All  who  thus  ask  questions  of  any  teacher  to 
try  him,  and  not  to  learn  of  him,  we  must  regard  as  brethren  of 
this  Pharisee,  according  to  what  is  said  below,  Inasmuch  Matt. 
as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  mine,  ye  have  done 
it  unto  me.     AUG.  Let  no  one  find  a  difficulty  in  this,  that  Aug.  de 
Matthew  speaks  of  this  man  as  putting  his  question  to  tempt  EV.  ii. 
the  Lord,  whereas  Mark  does  not  mention  this,  but  concludes  73> 
with  what  the  Lord  said  to  him  upon  his  answering  wisely, 
Thou  art  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God.     For  it  is  pos-  Mark 
sible  that,  though  he  came  to  tempt,  yet  the  Lord's  answer 
may  have  wrought  correction  within  him.     Or,  the  tempting 
here  meant  need  not  be  that  of  one  designing  to  deceive  an 
enemy,  but  rather   the    cautious    approach   of  one  making 
proof   of  a   stranger.      And    that  is   not   written   in   vain, 
WJioso  believeth  lightly,  he  is  of  a  vain  heart.     ORIGEN  ;Ecclus. 
He  said  Master  tempting  Him,  for  none  but  a  disciple  would 
thus  address  Christ.     Whoever  then  does  not  learn  of  the 
Word,  nor  yields  himself  wholly  up  to  it,  yet  calls  it  Master, 
he  is  brother  to  this  Pharisee  thus  tempting  Christ.     Perhaps 
while  they  read  the  Law  before  the  Saviour's  coming,  it  was 
a  question  among  them  which  was  the  great  commandment 
in  it ;  nor  would  the  Pharisee  have  asked  this,  if  it  had  not 
been  long  time  enquired  among  themselves,  but  never  found 
till  Jesus  came  and  declared  it.     PSEUDO-CHRYS.    He  who 
now  enquires  for  the  greatest  commandment  had  not  observed 
the  least.     He  only  ought  to  seek  for  a  higher  righteousness 
who  has  fulfilled  the  lower.     JEROME  ;  Or  he  enquires  not 
for  the  sake  of  the  commands,  but  which  is  the  first  and  great 
commandment,  that  seeing  all  that  God  commands  is  great, 
he  may  have   occasion  to  cavil  whatever   the   answer  be. 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.  But  the  Lord  so  answers  him,  as  at  once  to 
lay  bare  the  dissimulation  of  his  enquiry,  Jesus  saith  unto 
him,  Thou,  shall  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind.     Thou  shalt  love, 
not  'fear,'  for  to  love  is  more  than  to  fear;  to  fear  belongs  to 
slaves,  to  love  to  sons ;  fear  is  in  compulsion,  love  in  freedom. 
Whoso  serves  God  in  fear  escapes  punishment,  but  has  not 
the  reward  of  righteousness  because  he  did  well  unwillingly 
through  fear.     God  does  not  desire  to  be  served  servilely  by 


762  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

men  as  a  master,  but  to  be  loved  as  a  father,  for  that  He  has 
given  the  spirit  of  adoption  to  men.  But  to  love  God  with 
the  whole  heart,  is  to  have  the  heart  inclined  to  the  love  of 
no  one  thing  more  than  of  God.  To  love  God  again  with 
the  whole  soul  is  to  have  the  mind  stayed  upon  the  truth, 
and  to  be  firm  in  the  faith.  For  the  love  of  the  heart  and 
the  love  of  the  soul  are  different.  The  first  is  in  a  sort 
carnal,  that  we  should  love  God  even  with  our  flesh,  which 
we  cannot  do  unless  we  first  depart  from  the  love  of  the 
things  of  this  world.  The  love  of  the  heart  is  felt  in  the 
heart,  but  the  love  of  the  soul  is  not  felt,  but  is  perceived 
because  it  consists  in  a  judgment  of  the  soul.  For  he  who 
believes  that  all  good  is  in  God,  and  that  without  Him  is  no 
good,  he  loves  God  with  his  whole  soul.  But  to  love  God 
with  the  whole  mind,  is  to  have  all  the  faculties  open  and 
unoccupied  for  Him.  He  only  loves  God  with  his  whole 
mind,  whose  intellect  ministers  to  God,  whose  wisdom  is  em 
ployed  about  God,  whose  thoughts  travail  in  the  things  of 
God,  and  whose  memory  holds  the  things  which  are  good. 
Aug. ,  AUG.  Or  otherwise ;  You  are  commanded  to  love  God  with 
Christ^  a^  thy  heart,  that  your  whole  thoughts — with  all  thy  soul, 
i.  22.  that  your  whole  life — with  all  thy  mind,  that  your  whole 
understanding — may  be  given  to  Him  from  whom  you  have 
that  you  give.  Thus  He  has  left  no  part  of  our  life  which 
may  justly  be  unfilled  of  Him,  or  give  place  to  the  desire  after 
1  alia  re  any  other  final  good l ;  but  if  aught  else  present  itself  for  the 
'  soul's  love,  it  should  be  absorbed  into  that  channel  in  which  the 
whole  current  of  love  runs.  For  man  is  then  the  most  perfect 
'  al.  bo-  when  his  whole  life  tends  towards  the  life*  unchangeable,  and 
^|m>  clings  to  it  with  the  whole  purpose  of  his  soul.  GLOSS.  Or,  with 
interim,  all  thy  heart, i.  e.  understanding;  with  all  thy  soul,  i.  e.  thy  will ; 
with  all  thy  mind,i.  e.  memory;  so  you  shall  think,  will,  remem 
ber  nothing  contrary  to  Him.  ORIGEN  ;  Or  otherwise  ;  With 
all  thy  heart,  that  is,  in  all  recollection,  act,  thought ;  with 
all  thy  soul,  to  be  ready,  that  is,  to  lay  it  down  for  God's 
religion  ;  with  all  thy  mind,  bringing  forth  nothing  but  what 
is  of  God.  And  consider  whether  you  cannot  thus  take  the 
heart  of  the  understanding,  by  which  we  contemplate  things 
intellectual,  and  the  mind  of  that  by  which  we  utter  thoughts, 
walking  as  it  were  with  the  mind  through  each  expression, 


VER.  34  —  40.  ST.  MATTHEW.  763 

and  uttering  it.  If  the  Lord  had  given  no  answer  to  the 
Pharisee  who  thus  tempted  Him,  we  should  have  judged 
that  there  was  no  commandment  greater  than  the  rest.  But 
when  the  Lord  adds,  This  is  the  first  and  great  command 
ment,  we  learn  how  we  ought  to  think  of  the  commandments, 
that  there  is  a  great  one,  and  that  there  are  less  down  to  the 
least.  And  the  Lord  says  not  only  that  it  is  a  great,  but  that 
it  is  the  first  commandment,  not  in  order  of  Scripture,  but 
in  supremacy  of  value.  They  only  take  upon  them  the 
greatness  and  supremacy  of  this  precept,  who  not  only  love  the 
Lord  their  God,  but  add  these  three  conditions.  Nor  did  He 
only  teach  the  first  and  great  commandment,  but  added  that 
there  was  a  second  like  unto  the  first,  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself.  But  if  Whoso  loveth  iniquity  hath  Ps.n,5. 
hated  his  own  soiil,  it  is  manifest  that  he  does  not  love  his 
neighbour  as  himself,  when  he  does  not  love  himself.  AUG.  Aug.de 
It  is  clear  that  every  man  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  neighbour, 


because  evil  is  to  be  done  to  no  man.     Further,  if  every  one  i-  30. 

•     via, 

to  whom  we  are  bound  to  shew  service  of  mercy,  or  who  is  Rom.is, 
bound  to  shew  it  to  us,  be  rightly  called  our  neighbour,  it  is  10- 
manifest  that  in   this  precept  are  comprehended  the  holy 
Angels  who  perform  for  us  those  services  of  which  we  may 
read  in  Scripture.     Whence  also  our  Lord  Himself  would 
be  called  our  neighbour  ;  for  it  was  Himself  whom  He  repre 
sents    as    the   good  Samaritan,  who    gave    succour    to    the 
man  who  was   left    half-dead   by  the  way.      ID.    He  that  Aug.  de 
loves   men    ought  to    love    them   either  because    they   are^j[|ng 
righteous,  or  that  they  may  be  righteous  ;  and  so  also  ought 
he  to  love  himself  either  for  that  he  is,  or  that  he  may  be 
righteous.     And  thus  without  peril  he  may  love  his  neighbour 
as  himself.     ID.  But  if  even  yourself  you  ought  not  to  love  Aug.  de 
for  your   own  sake,   but  because  of  Him  in  whom  is  the 
rightful  end  of  your  love,  let  not  another  man  be  displeased  22. 
that  you  love  even  him  for  God's  sake.     Whoso  then  rightly 
loves  his  neighbour,  ought  to  endeavour  with  him  that  he  also 
with  his  whole  heart  love  God.     PSEUDO-CHRYS.    But  who 
loves  man  is  as  who  loves  God  ;  for  man  is  God's  image, 
wherein  God  is  loved,  as  a  King  is  honoured  in  his  statue. 
For  this  cause  this  commandment  is  said  to  be  like  the  first. 
HILARY  ;   Or  otherwise  ;    That  the  second  command  is  like 


0 

764  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

the  first  signifies  that  the  obligation  and  merit  of  both  are  alike ; 
for  no  love  of  God  without  Christ,  or  of  Christ  without  God, 
can  profit  to  salvation. 

It  follows,  On  these  two  commandments  hang  all  the  Law 

Aug.     and  the  Prophets.     AUG.  Hang,  that  is,  refer  thither  as  their 

EvTsa.  end.     RABAN.  For  to  these  two  commandments  belongs  the 

whole  decalogue  ;    the  commandments  of  the  first  table  to 

the  love  of  God,  those  of  the  second  to  the  love  of  our 

neighbour.     ORIGEN;  Or,  because  he  that  has  fulfilled  the 

things  that  are  written  concerning  the  love  of  God  and  our 

neighbour,  is  worthy  to  receive  from  God  the  great  reward, 

that  he  should  be  enabled  to  understand  the  Law  and  the 

Au&'-    Prophets.     AUG.    Since  there   are  two  commandments,  the 

viii.  7.   love  of  God  and  the  love  of  our  neighbour,  on  which  hang 

the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  not  without  reason  does  Scripture 

put  one  for  both  ;  sometimes  the  love  of  God ;    as  in  that, 

Rom.  8,  we  know  that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that 

love  God ;  and  sometimes  the  love  of  our  neighbour;    as  in 

Gal.  5,  that,  All  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  even  in  this,  Thou 

shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself.     And  that  because  if  a 

man  love  his  neighbour,  it  follows  therefrom  that  he  loves 

God  also  ;    for  it  is  the  selfsame  affection  by  which  we  love 

God,  and  by  which  we  love  our  neighbour,  save  that  we  love 

God  for  Himself,  but  ourselves  and  our  neighbour  for  God's 

Aug. De sake.     ID.    But  since  the  Divine  substance  is  more  excellent 

Christ,  i.  an(l  higher  than  our  nature,  the  command  to  love  God  is 

30.et26.  distinct  from  that  to  love  our  neighbour.     But  if  by  yourself, 

you  understand  your  whole  self,  that  ig  both  your  soul  and 

your  body,  and  in  like  manner  of  your  neighbour,  there  is  no 

sort  of  things  to  be  loved  omitted  in  these  commands.     The 

love  of  God  goes  first,  and  the  rule  thereof  is  so  set  out  to  us 

as  to  make  all  other  loves  center  in  that,  so  that  nothing  seems 

said   of  loving  yourself.     But  then  follows,  Thou  shalt  love 

thy  neighbour  as   thyself,  so  that  love   of  yourself  is  not 

omitted. 

41.  While  the  Pharisees  were  gathered  together, 
Jesus  asked  them, 

42.  Saying,  What  think  ye  of  Christ?  whose  son 
is  he  ?  They  say  unto  him,  The  Son  of  David. 


VER.  41 — 46.  ST.  MATTHEW.  765 

43.  He  saith  unto  them,  How  then  doth  David  in 
spirit  call  him  Lord,  saying, 

44.  The  Lord  saith  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  on  my 
right  hand,  till  I  make  thine  enemies  thy  footstool  ? 

45.  If  David  then  call  him  Lord,  how  is  he  his 
son  ? 

46.  And  no  man  was  able  to  answer  him  a  word, 
neither  durst  any  man  from  that  day  forth  ask  him 
any  more  questions. 

PSEUDO-CHRYS.  The  Jews  tempted  Christ,  supposing  Him 
to  be  mere  man ;  had  they  believed  Him  to  be  the  Son  of 
God,  they  would  not  have  tempted  Him.  Christ  therefore, 
willing  to  shew  that  He  knew  the  treachery  of  their  hearts, 
and  that  He  was  God,  yet  would  not  declare  this  truth  to  them 
plainly,  that  they  might  not  take  occasion  thence  to  charge  Him 
with  blasphemy,  and  yet  would  not  totally  conceal  this  truth ; 
because  to  that  end  had  He  come  that  He  should  preach 
the  truth;  He  therefore  puts  a  question  to  them,  such  as 
should  declare  to  them  who  He  was;  What  think  ye  of 
Christ?  whose  Son  is  He?  CHRYS.  He  first  asked  HisChrys. 
disciples  what  others  said  of  Christ,  and  then  what  th 
themselves  said;  but  not  so  to  these.  For  they  would  have 
said  that  He  was  a  deceiver,  and  wicked.  They  thought  that 
Christ  was  to  be  mere  man,  and  therefore  they  say  unto 
Him,  The  Son  of  David.  To  reprove  this,  He  brings  forward 
the  Prophet,  witnessing  His  dominion,  proper  Sonship,  and 
His  joint  honour  with  His  Father.  JEROME;  This  passage 
is  out  of  the  109th  Psalm.  Christ  is  therefore  called  David's 
Lord,  not  in  respect  of  His  descent  from  him,  but  in  respect 
of  His  eternal  generation  from  the  Father,  wherein  He  was 
before  His  fleshly  Father.  And  he  calls  Him  Lord,  not  by 
a  mere  chance,  nor  of  his  own  thought,  but  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  REMIG.  That  He  says,  Sit  thou  on  my  right  handy 
is  not  to  be  taken  as  though  God  had  a  body,  and  either  a 
right  hand  or  a  left  hand;  but  to  sit  on  the  right  hand  of  God 
is  to  abide  in  the  honour  and  equality  of  the  Father's  majesty. 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.  I  suppose  that  He  formed  this  question,  not 
only  against  the  Pharisees,  but  also  against  the  heretics ;  for 


766  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  MATTHEW.        CHAP.  XXII. 

according  to  the  flesh  He  was  truly  David's  Son,  but  his 
Lord  according  to  His  Godhead.  CHRYS.  But  He  rests 
not  with  this,  but  that  they  may  fear,  He  adds,  Till  I  make 
thine  enemies  thy  footstool ;  that  at  least  by  terror  He  might 
gain  them.  ORIGEN;  For  God  puts  Christ's  enemies  as  a 
footstool  beneath  His  feet,  for  their  salvation  as  well  as  their 
destruction.  REMIG.  But  till  is  used  for  indefinite  time, 
that  the  meaning  be,  Sit  Thou  for  ever,  and  for  ever  hold 
Gloss,  thine  enemies  beneath  thy  feet.  GLOSS.  That  it  is  by  the 
selnf D"  Fat^ier  that  the  enemies  are  put  under  the  Son,  denotes  not 
the  Son's  weakness,  but  the  uuion  of  His  nature  with  His 
Father.  For  the  Son  also  puts  under  Him  the  Father's 
enemies,  when  He  glorifies  His  name  upon  earth.  He 
concludes  from  this  authority,  If  David  then  call  Him  Lord, 
how  is  He  his  son?  JEROME;  This  question  is  still  available 
for  us  against  the  Jews;  for  these  who  believe  that  Christ  is 
yet  to  come,  assert  that  He  is  a  mere  man,  though  a  holy  one, 
of  the  race  of  David.  Let  us  then  thus  taught  by  the  Lord 
ask  them,  If  He  be  mere  man,  and  only  the  Son  of  David, 
how  does  David  call  Him  his  Lord?  To  evade  the  truth 
of  this  question,  the  Jews  invent  many  frivolous  answers. 
They  allege  Abraham's  steward,  he  whose  son  was  Eliezer 
of  Damascus,  and  say  that  this  Psalm  was  composed  in  his 
person,  when  after  the  overthrow  of  the  five  kings,  the  Lord 
God  said  to  his  lord  Abraham,  Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand, 
till  I  make  thine  enemies  thy  footstool.  Let  us  ask  how 
Abraham  could  say  the  things  that  follow,  and  compel  them 
to  tell  us  how  Abraham  was  born  before  Lucifer,  and  how  he 
was  a  Priest  after  the  order  of  Melchisedech,  for  whom  Mel- 
chisedech  brought  bread  and  wine,  and  of  whom  he  received 
tithes  of  the  spoil  ?  CHRYS.  This  conclusion  He  put  to  their 
questionings,  as  final,  and  sufficient  to  stop  their  mouth. 
Henceforward  accordingly  they  held  their  peace,  not  by  their 
own  good-will,  but  from  not  having  aught  to  say.  ORIGEN  ; 
For  had  their  question  sprung  of  desire  to  know,  He  would 
never  have  proposed  to  them  such  things  as  should  have 
deterred  them  from  asking  further.  RABAN.  Hence  we  learn 
that  the  poison  of  jealousy  may  be  overcome,  but  can  hardly 
of  itself  rest  at  peace. 


CHAP.  XXIII. 

1.  Then  spake  Jesus  to  the  multitude,  and  to  his 
disciples, 

2.  Saying,  The  Scribes  and  the   Pharisees  sit  in 
Moses'  seat : 

3.  All  therefore  whatsoever  they  bid  you  observe, 
that  observe  and  do  ;   but  do  not  ye  after  their  works  : 
for  they  say,  and  do  not. 

4.  For  they  bind  heavy  burdens  and  grievous  to  be 
borne,  and  lay  them  on  men's  shoulders ;   but  they 
themselves   will   not   move    them  with    one  of  their 
fingers. 

PSEUDO-CHRYS.  When  the  Lord  had  overthrown  the 
Priests  by  His  answer,  and  shewn  their  condition  to  be 
irremediable,  forasmuch  as  clergy,  when  they  do  wickedly, 
cannot  be  amended,  but  laymen  who  have  gone  wrong  are 
easily  set  right,  He  turns  His  discourse  to  His  Apostles 
and  the  people.  For  that  is  an  unprofitable  word  which 
silences  one,  without  conveying  improvement  to  another. 
ORIGEN  ;  The  disciples  of  Christ  are  better  than  the  com 
mon  herd;  and  you  may  find  in  the  Church  such  as  with 
more  ardent  affection  come  to  the  word  of  God ;  .these 
are  Christ's  disciples,  the  rest  are  only  His  people.  And 
sometimes  He  speaks  to  His  disciples  alone,  sometimes  to 
the  multitudes  and  His  disciples  together,  as  here.  The 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  sit  in  Moses1  seat,  as  professing  his 
Law,  and  boasting  that  they  can  interpret  it.  Those  that  do 
not  depart  from  the  letter  of  the  Law  are  the  Scribes  ;  those 
who  make  high  professions,  and  separate  themselves  from  the 
vulgar  as  better  than  they,  are  called  Pharisees,  which  signi- 


768  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIII. 

fies  '  separate.'  Those  who  understand  and  expound  Moses 
according  to  his  spiritual  meaning,  these  sit  indeed  on  Moses' 
seat,  but  are  neither  Scribes  nor  Pharisees,  but  better  than 
either,  Christ's  beloved  disciples.  Since  His  coming  these 
have  sat  upon  the  seat  of  the  Church,  which  is  the  seat  of 
Christ.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  But  regard  must  be  had  to  this, 
after  what  sort  each  man  fills  his  seat;  for  not  the  seat  makes 
the  Priest,  but  the  Priest  the  seat ;  the  place  does  not  conse 
crate  the  man,  but  the  man  the  place.  A  wicked  Priest 
Chrys.  derives  guilt  and  not  honour  from  his  Priesthood.  CHRYS. 

TT 

Ixxii.  But  that  none  should  say,  For  this  cause  am  I  slack  to 
practise,  because  my  instructor  is  evil,  He  removes  every 
such  plea,  saying,  All  therefore  whatsoever  they  say  unto 
you,  that  observe  and  do,  for  they  speak  not  their  own,  but 
God's,  which  things  He  taught  through  Moses  in  the  Law. 
And  look  with  how  great  honour  He  speaks  of  Moses,  shew 
ing  again  what  harmony  there  is  with  the  Old  Testament. 
ORIGEN  ;  But  if  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  who  sit  in  Moses' 
seat  are  the  teachers  of  the  Jews,  teaching  the  commandments 
of  the  Law  according  to  the  letter,  how  is  this  that  the  Lord 
bids  us  do  after  all  things  which  they  say  ;  but  the  Apostles 
Acts  is,  in  the  Acts  forbid  the  believers  to  do  according  to  the  letter 
19*  of  the  Law.  These  indeed  taught  after  the  letter,  not  under 
standing  the  Law  spiritually.  Whatsoever  they  say  to  us  out 
of  the  Law,  with  understanding  of  its  sense,  that  we  do  and 
keep,  not  doing  after  their  works,  for  they  do  not  what  the 
law  enjoins,  nor  perceive  the  veil  that  is  upon  the  letter  of 
the  Law.  Or  by  all  we  are  not  to  understand  every  thing  in 
the  Law,  many  things  for  example  relating  to  the  sacrifices, 
and  the  like,  but  such  as  concern  our  conduct.  But  why 
did  He  command  this  not  of  the  Law  of  grace,  but  of  the 
doctrine  of  Moses  ?  Because  truly  it  was  not  the  time  to 
publish  the  commandments  of  the  New  Law  before  the  sea 
son  of  His  passion.  I  think  also  that  He  had  herein  some 
thing  further  in  view.  He  was  about  to  bring  many  things 
against  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  in  His  discourse  following, 
wherefore  that  vain  men  might  not  think  that  He  coveted 
their  place  of  authority,  or  spoke  thus  out  of  enmity  to  them, 
he  first  puts  away  from  Himself  this  suspicion,  and  then 
begins  to  reprove  them,  that  the  people  might  not  fall  into  their 


VER.   1 4.  ST.  MATTHEW.  760 

faults ;  and  that,  because  they  ought  to  hear  them,  they 
should  not  think  that  therefore  they  ought  to  imitate  them  in 
their  works,  He  adds,  But  do  ye  not  after  their  works.  What 
can  be  more  pitiable  than  such  a  teacher,  whose  life  to  imitate 
is  ruin,  to  refuse  to  follow  is  salvation  for  his  disciples? 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.  But  as  gold  is  picked  out  of  the  dross,  and 
the  dross  is  left,  so  hearers  may  take  doctrine  and  leave  prac 
tice,  for  good  doctrine  oft  comes  from  an  evil  man.  But  as 
Priests  judge  it  better  to  teach  the  bad  for  the  sake  of  the 
good,  rather  than  to  neglect  the  good  for  the  sake  of  the 
bad ;  so  also  let  those  who  are  set  under  them  pay  respect  to 
the  bad  Priests  for  the  sake  of  the  good,  that  the  good  may 
not  be  despised  because  of  the  bad ;  for  it  is  better  to  give 
the  bad  what  is  not  their  due,  rather  than  to  defraud  the 
good  of  what  is  justly  theirs.  CHRYS.  Look  with  what  He 
begins  His  reproof  of  them,  For  they  say,  and  do  not.  Every 
one  who  transgresses  the  Law  is  deserving  of  blame,  but 
especially  he  who  has  the  post  of  instruction.  And  this  for  a 
threefold  cause ;  first,  because  he  is  a  transgressor ;  secondly, 
because  when  he  ought  to  set  others  right,  he  himself  halts  ; 
thirdly,  because,  being  in  the  rank  of  a  teacher,  his  influence 
is  more  corrupting.  Again,  He  brings  a  further  charge 
against  them,  that  they  oppress  those  that  are  put  under 
them  ;  They  bind  heavy  burdens  ;  in  this  He  shews  a  double 
evil  in  them ;  that  they  exacted  without  any  allowance  the 
utmost  rigour  of  life  from  those  that  were  put  under  them, 
while  they  allowed  themselves  large  licence  herein.  But  a 
good  ruler  should  do  the  contrary  of  this,  to  be  to  himself  a 
severe  judge,  to  others  a  merciful  one.  Observe  in  what 
forcible  words  He  utters  His  reproof;  He  says  not  they 
cannot,  but  they  will  not ;  and  not,  lift  them,  but  touch  them 
with  one  of  their  fingers.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  And  to  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  of  whom  He  is  now  speaking,  heavy 
burdens  not  to  be  borne  are  the  commandments  of  the  Law ; 
as  St.  Peter  speaks  in  the  Acts,  Wliy  seek  ye  to  put  a  yoke  Actsi5, 
upon  the  neck  of  the  disciples,  which  neither  we  nor  our  ' 
fathers  were  able  to  bear  ?  For  commending  the  burdens  of 
the  Law  by  fabulous  proofs,  they  bound  as  it  were  the  shoul 
ders  of  the  heart  of  their  hearers  with  bands,  that  thus  tied  as 
though  with  proof  of  reason  to  them,  they  might  not  fling 

VOL.  I.  3D 


770  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIII 

them  off;  but  themselves  did  not  in  the  least  measure  fulfil 
them,  that  is,  not  only  did  not  wholly,  but  did  not  so  much 
Gloss.  as  attempt  to.  GLOSS.  Or,  bind  burdens,  that  is,  gather 
traditions  from  all  sides,  not  to  aid,  but  to  burden  the  con 
science.  JEROME  ;  But  all  these  things,  the  shoulders,  the 
finger,  the  burdens,  and  the  bands  with  which  they  bind  the 
burdens,  have  a  spiritual  meaning.  Herein  also  the  Lord 
speaks  generally  against  all  masters  who  enjoin  high  things, 
but  do  not  even  little  things.  PsEUDO-CHRYS.  Such  also  are 
they  who  lay  a  heavy  burden  upon  those  who  come  to  peni 
tence,  so  that  while  men  would  avoid  present  punishment, 
they  overlook  that  which  is  to  come.  For  if  you  lay  upon  a 
boy's  shoulders  a  burden  more  than  he  can  bear,  he  must 
needs  either  cast  it  off,  or  be  broken  down  by  it ;  so  the  man 
on  whom  you  lay  too  grievous  a  burden  of  penance  must 
either  wholly  refuse  it,  or  if  he  submit  himself  to  it  will  find 
himself  unable  to  bear  it,  and  so  be  offended,  and  sin  worse. 
Also,  if  we  should  be  wrong  in  imposing  too  light  a  penance, 
is  it  not  better  to  have  to  answer  for  mercy  than  for  severity  ? 
Where  the  master  of  the  household  is  liberal,  the  steward 
should  not  be  oppressive.  If  God  be  kind,  should  His  Priest 
be  harsh  ?  Do  you  seek  thereby  the  character  of  sanctity  ? 
Be  strict  in  ordering  your  own  life,  in  that  of  others  lenient; 
let  men  hear  of  you  as  enjoining  little,  and  performing  much. 
The  Priest  who  gives  licence  to  himself,  and  exacts  the 
utmost  from  others,  is  like  a  corrupt  tax-gatherer  in  the  state, 
who  to  ease  himself  taxes  others  heavily. 

5.  But  all  their  works  they  do  for  to  be  seen  of 
men  :  they  make  broad  their  phylacteries,  and  enlarge 
the  borders  of  their  garments, 

6.  And  love  the  uppermost  rooms  at   feasts,  and 
the  chief  seats  in  the  synagogues, 

7.  And  greetings  in  the  markets,  and  to  be  called 
of  men,  Rabbi,  Rabbi. 

8.  But  be  not  ye  called  Rabbi  :  for  one  is  your 
Master,  even  Christ ;  and  all  ye  are  brethren. 

9.  And  call  no  man  your  father  upon  the  earth : 
for  one  is  your  Father,  which  is  in  heaven. 


VER.  5 — 12.  ST.  MATTHEW.  771 

10.  Neither  be  ye  called  masters :  for  one  is  your 
Master,  even  Christ. 

11.  But  he   that  is  greatest  among  you  shall  be 
your  servant. 

12.  And    whosoever    shall    exalt  himself  shall    be 
abased;  and  he  that   shall  humble  himself  shall  be 
exalted. 

CHIIYS.  The  Lord  had  charged  the  Scribes  and  Pha 
risees  with  harshness  and  neglect;  He  now  brings  for 
ward  their  vain-glory,  which  made  them  depart  from  God. 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Every  substance  breeds  in  itself  that  which 
destroys  it,  as  wood  the  worm,  and  garments  the  moth  ; 
so  the  Devil  strives  to  corrupt  the  ministry  of  the  Priests, 
who  are  ordained  for  the  edification  of  holiness,  endea 
vouring  that  this  good,  while  it  is  done  to  be  seen  of 
men,  should  be  turned  into  evil.  Take  away  this  fault 
from  the  clergy,  and  you  will  have  no  further  labour  in  their 
reform,  for  of  this  it  comes  that  a  clergyman  who  has  sinned 
can  hardly  perform  penance.  Also  the  Lord  here  points  out 
the  cause  why  they  could  not  believe  in  Christ,  because 
nearly  all  they  did  was  in  order  to  be  seen  of  men;  for  he 
whose  desire  is  for  earthly  glory  from  men,  cannot  believe  on 
Christ  who  preaches  things  heavenly.  I  have  read  one  who 
interprets  this  place  thus.  In  Moses'  seat,  that  is,  in  the 
rank  and  degree  instituted  by  Moses,  the  Scribes  and  Phari 
sees  are  seated  unworthily,  forasmuch  as  they  preached  to 
others  the  Law  which  foretold  Christ's  coming,  but  them 
selves  did  not  receive  Him  when  come.  For  this  cause  He 
exhorts  the  people  to  hear  the  Law  which  they  preached, 
that  is,  to  believe  in  Christ  who  was  preached  by  the  Law, 
but  not  to  follow  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  in  their  disbelief 
of  Him.  And  He  shews  the  reason  why  they  preached  the 
coming  of  Christ  out  of  the  Law,  yet  did  not  believe  on  Him ; 
namely,  because  they  did  not  preach  that  Christ  should  come 
through  any  desire  of  His  coming,  but  that  they  might  be 
seen  by  men  to  be  doctors  of  the  Law.  ORIGEN  ;  And  their 
works  likewise  they  do  to  be  seen  of  men,  using  outward 
circumcision,  taking  away  actual  leaven  out  of  their  houses, 

3  D2 


772  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIII. 

and  doing  such  like  things.  But  Christ's  disciples  fulfil  the 
Rom.  2,  Law  in  things  secret,  being  Jews  inwardly,  as  the  Apostle 
speaks.  CHRYS.  Note  the  intensive  force  of  the  words  of 
His  reproofs.  He  says  not  merely  that  they  do  their  works 
to  be  seen  of  men,  but  added,  all  their  works.  And  not  only 
in  great  things  but  in  some  things  trivial  they  were  vainglo 
rious,  They  make  broad  their  phylacteries  and  enlarge  the 
borders  of  their  garments.  JEROME;  For  the  Lord,  when 
He  had  given  the  commandments  of  the  Law  through  Moses, 
Deut.  6,  added  at  the  end,  And  thou  shall  bind  them  for  a  sign  upon 
thine  hand,  and  they  shall  be  ever  before  thine  eyes;  the 
meaning  of  which  is,  Let  my  precepts  be  in  thine  hand  so  as 
to  be  fulfilled  in  thy  works ;  let  them  be  before  thine  eyes  so 
as  that  thou  shalt  meditate  upon  them  day  and  night.  This 
the  Pharisees  misinterpreting,  wrote  on  parchments  the 
Decalogue  of  Moses,  that  is,  the  Ten  Commandments,  and 
folding  them  up,  tied  them  on  their  forehead,  so  making 
them  a  crown  for  their  head,  that  they  should  be  always  before 
their  eyes.  Moses  had  in  another  place  given  command  that 
Nmnb.  they  should  make  fringes  of  blue  in  the  borders  of  their 
15>  39'  garments,  to  distinguish  the  people  of  Israel;  that  as  in  their 
bodies  circumcision,  so  in  their  garments  the  fringe,  might 
discriminate  the  Jewish  nation.  But  these  superstitious 
teachers,  catching  at  popular  favour,  and  making  gain  of  silly 
women,  made  broad  hems,  and  fastened  them  with  sharp  pins, 
that  as  they  walked  or  sat  they  might  be  pricked,  and  by 
such  monitors  be  recalled  to  the  duties  of  God's  ministry. 
This  embroidery  then  of  the  Decalogue  they  called  phylac 
teries,  that  is,  conservatories,  because  those  who  wore  them, 
wore  them  for  their  own  protection  and  security.  So  little 
did  the  Pharisees  understand  that  they  were  to  be  worn  on 
the  heart  and  not  on  the  body ;  for  in  equal  degree  may  cases 
and  chests  be  said  to  have  books,  which  assuredly  have  not 
the  knowledge  of  God.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  But  after  their 
example  do  many  invent  Hebrew  names  of  Angels,  and  write 
them,  and  bind  them  on  themselves,  and  they  seem  dreadful 
to  such  as  are  without  understanding.  Others  again  wear 
round  their  neck  a  portion  of  the  Gospel  written  out.  But 
is  not  the  Gospel  read  every  day  in  the  Church,  and  heard  by 
all  ?  Those  therefore  who  receive  no  profit  from  the  Gospel 


VEU.  5 12.  ST.  MATTHEW.  773 

sounded  in   their    ears,    how    shall    the  having   them    hung 
about  their  neck  save  them  ?     Further,  wherein  is  the  virtue 
of  the  Gospel  ?    in  the  shape  of  its  letters,  or  in  the  under 
standing  its  meaning?    If  in  the  characters,  you  do   well  to 
hang  them  round  your  neck ;  if  in  their  meaning,  they  are  of 
more  profit  when  laid  up  in  the  heart,  than  hung  round  the 
neck.     But  others  explain  this  place  thus,  That  they  made 
broad   their   teachings    concerning    special    observances,   as 
phylacteries,  or   preservatives   of  salvation,  preaching  them 
continually  to  the  people.     And  the  broad  fringes   of  their 
garments  they  explain  of  the  same  undue  stress  upon  such 
commandments.      JEROME;    Seeing   they  thus  make  broad 
their  phylacteries,  and  make  them  broad  fringes,  desiring  to 
have  glory  of  men,  they  are  convicted  also  in  other  things ; 
For  they  love  the  uppermost  rooms  at  feasts,  and  the  chief 
seats  in  the  synagogues.     RABAN.  It  should  be  noted,  that  He 
does  not  forbid  those  to  whom  this  belongs  by  right  of  rank 
to  be  saluted  in  the  forum,  or  to  sit  or  recline  in  the  highest 
room ;    but  those  who  unduly  desire  these  things,  whether 
they  obtain  them  or  not,  these  He  enjoins  the  believers  to 
shun  as  wicked.      PSEUDO-CHRYS.  For  He  rebukes  not  those 
who  recline  in  the  highest  place,  but  those  who  love  such 
places,  blaming  the  will  not  the  deed.     For  to  no  purpose 
does  he  humble  himself  in  place  who  exalts  himself  in  heart. 
For  some  vain  men  hearing  that  it  was  a  commendable  thing 
to  seat  himself  in  the  lowest  place,  chooses  so  to  do ;  and 
thus  not  only  does  not  put  away  the  vanity  of  his  heart,  but 
adds  this  additional  vain  ostentation  of  his  humility,  as  one 
who  would  be  thought  righteous  and  humble.     For  many 
proud  men  take   the  lowest   place  in   their   bodies,  but  in 
haughtiness  of  heart  think  themselves  to  be  seated  among 
the  highest;   and  there  are  many  humble  men  who,  placed 
among  the  highest,  are  inwardly  in  their  own  esteem  among 
the  lowest.      CHRYS.    Observe   where  vain  glory  governed 
them,  to  wit,  in  the   synagogues,  whither   they  entered  to 
guide  others.     It  had  been  tolerable  to   have  felt  thus  at 
feasts,  notwithstanding  that  a  doctor   ought   to  be  had  in 
honour  in  all  places  alike,  and  not  in  the  Churches  only. 
But  if  it  be  blameworthy  to  love  such  things,  how  wrong  is  it 
to  seek  to  attain  them  ?    PSEUDO-CHRYS.    They  love  the  first 


774  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO        CHAP.  XXIU. 

salutations,  first,  that  is,  not  in  time  only,  before  others ;  but 
in  tone,  that  we  should  say  with  a  loud  voice,  Hail,  Rabbi ; 
and  in  body  that  we  should  bow  low  our  head ;  and  in  place, 
that  the  salutation  should  be  in  public.      RABAN.  And  herein 
they  are  not  without  fault,  that  the  same  men  should  be 
concerned  in  the  litigations  of  the  forum,  who  in  the  syna 
gogue   in   Moses'   seat,  seek  to  be  called  Rabbi   by  men. 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.  That  is,  they  wish  to  be  called,  not  to  be  such ; 
they  desire  the  name,  and  neglect  the  duties.     ORIGEN  ;  And 
in  the  Church  of  Christ  are  found  some  who  take  to  them 
selves  the  uppermost  places,  that  is,  become  deacons ;  next 
they  aspire  to  the  chief  seals  of  those  that  are  called  pres 
byters  ;  and  some  intrigue  to  be  styled  among  men  Bishop, 
that  is,  to  be  called  Rabbi.     But  Christ's  disciple  loves  the 
uppermost  place  indeed,  but  at  the  spiritual  banquet,  where 
he  may  feed  on  the  choicer  morsels  of  spiritual  food,  for, 
with  the  Apostles  who  sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  he  loves  the 
chief  seats,  and  hastes  by  his  good  works  to  render  himself 
worthy  of  such  seats ;  and  he  also  loves  salutations  made  in 
the  heavenly  market-place,  that  is,  in  the  heavenly  congrega 
tions  of  the  primitive.     But  the  righteous  man  would  be 
called  Rabbi,  neither  by  man,  nor  by  any  other,  because 
there  is  One  Master  of  all  men.     CHRYS.  Or  otherwise;  Of 
the    foregoing    things    with    which    He    had    charged    the 
Pharisees,   He   now   passes   over   many   as    of  no    weight, 
and  such  as  His  disciples  needed  not  to  be  instructed  in; 
but  that  which  was  the  cause  of  all  evils,  namely,  ambition 
of  the  master's  seat,  that  He  insists  upon  to  instruct  His 
disciples.      PSEUDO-CHRYS.    Be   not   ye  called  Rabbi,  that 
ye  take  not  to  yourselves  what  belongs  to  God.     And  call 
not  others  Rabbi,  that  ye  pay  not  to  men  a  divine  honour. 
For  One  is  the  Master  of  all,  who  instructs   all  men   by 
nature.     For  if  man  were  taught  by  man,  all  men  would 
learn  that  have  teachers ;  but  seeing  it  is  not  man  that  teaches, 
but  God,  many  are  taught,  but  few  learn.     Man  cannot  by 
teaching   impart  an  understanding  to  man,  but  that  under 
standing  which  is  given  by  God  man  calls  forth  by  schooling. 
HILARY  ;  And  that  the  disciples  may  ever  remember  that  they 
*nt  °n'  ave  l^e  children  of  one  parent,  and  that  by  their  new  birth 
Helvid.  they  have  passed  the  limits  of  their  earthly  origin.     JEROME  ; 


VEIL  5 — 12.  ST.  MATTHEW.  775 

All  men  may  be  called  brethren  in  affection,  which  is  of  two 
kinds,  general  and  particular.  Particular,  by  which  all 
Christians  are  brethren  ;  general,  by  which  all  men  being 
bom  of  one  Father  are  bound  together  by  like  tie  of  kindred. 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.  And  call  no  man  your  Father  upon  earth  ; 
because  in  this  world  though  man  begets  man,  yet  there  is 
one  Father  who  created  all  men.  For  we  have  not  beginning 
of  life  from  our  parents,  but  we  have  our  life  transmitted 
through  them8.  ORIGEN;  But  who  calls  no  man  father  upon 
earth  ?  He  who  in  every  action  done  as  before  God,  says, 
Our  Father,  which  art  in  Heaven,  GLOSS.  Because  it  was  Gloss. 
clear  who  was  the  Father  of  all,  by  this  which  was  said, no 
Which  art  in  Heaven,  He  would  teach  them  who  was  the 
Master  of  all,  and  therefore  repeats  the  same  command  con 
cerning  a  master,  Neither  be  ye  called  masters;  for  one  is 
your  Master,  even  Christ.  CHRYS.  Not  that  when  Christis  here 
said  to  be  our  Master,  the  Father  is  excluded,  as  neither  when 
God  is  said  to  be  our  Father,  is  Christ  excluded,  Who  is  the 
Father  of  men.  JEROME;  It  is  a  difficulty  that  the  Apostle 
against  this  command  calls  himself  the  teacher  of  the  Gentiles; 
and  that  in  monasteries  in  their  common  conversation, 
they  call  one  another,  Father.  It  is  to  be  cleared  thus.  It 
is  one  thing  to  be  father  or  master  by  nature,  another  by 
sufferance.  Thus  when  we  call  any  man  our  father,  we  do  it 
to  shew  respect  to  his  age,  not  as  regarding  him  as  the  author 
of  our  being.  We  also  call  men  '  Master,'  from  resemblance 
to  a  real  master ;  and,  not  to  use  tedious  repetition,  as  the 
One  God  and  One  Son,  who  are  by  nature,  do  not  preclude 
us  from  calling  others  gods  and  sons  by  adoption,  so  the  One 
Father  and  One  Master,  do  not  preclude  us  from  speaking  of 

a  The  Catholic  doctrine  is,  that  the  of  the  Catholic  faith  consistently  and 

man  is  born  from  his  parents,  by  propa-  truly,  preaching  that  the  souls  of  men, 

gation,  hut  that  the  soul  is  immediately  before   they   were   breathed   into  their 

created   by    God,    the   human    agency  bodies,  were  not,  nor  are  incorporated 

being  but  a  certain  disposition  of  mat-  by  any  other  but  by  God  the  Framer, 

ter — such  that  according  to  God's  good  Who  is  Creator  of  them  as  well    as 

pleasure,  by  a  law  which  He  has  ap-  the  bodies.      Ep.    15,  ad   Turrib.  10. 

pointed,  the  gift  of  a  soul  is  accorded  And  so  St.  Hilary,  "  Every  soul  is  the 

to  it.     And  thus,  though  a  man's  soul  work  of  God,  but  the  generation  of  the 

cannot  be  called  the  son  of  his  parents,  flesh  is  come  from  the  flesh."   De  Trin. 

yet  that  compound  nature  of  which  the  x.  20.    Vide  also  Greg.  Nyss.  de  Anim. 

soul  forms  part,  is  such.     That  the  soul  p.  934.    Ambros.  de  Noe.  4.    Hieron. 

is  immediately  from  God  by  creation  is  in  Eccles.  xii.  7. 
the  Catholic  doctrine.     St.  Leo  speaks 


776  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIII. 

other  fathers  and  masters  by  an  abuse  of  the  terms.  CHRYS. 
Not  only  does  the  Lord  forbid  us  to  seek  supremacy,  but 
would  lead  His  hearer  to  the  very  opposite ;  He  that  is 
greatest  among  you  shall  be  your  servant.  ORIGEN;  Or 
otherwise ;  And  if  one  minister  the  divine  word,  knowing  that 
it  is  Christ  that  makes  it  to  be  fruitful,  such  a  one  professes 
himself  a  minister  and  not  a  master;  whence  it  follows,  He 
that  is  greatest  among  you,  let  him  be  your  servant.  As 
Christ  Himself,  who  was  in  truth  our  Master,  professed  Him- 
Luke  self  a  minister,  saying,  /  am  in  the  midst  of  you  as  one  that 
22,  27.  ministers.  And  well  does  He  conclude  this  prohibition  of  all 
vain-glory  with  the  words,  And  whosoever  shall  exalt  him 
self  shall  be  abased ;  and  he  that  shall  humble  himself  shall 
be  exalted.  REMIG.  Which  means  that  every  one  who 
thinks  highly  of  his  own  deserts,  shall  be  humbled  before 
God;  and  every  one  who  humbles  himself  concerning  his 
good  deeds,  shall  be  exalted  with  God. 

13.  But  woe  unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
hypocrites!  for  ye  shut  up  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
against  men  :  for  ye  neither  go  in  yourselves,  nei 
ther  suffer  ye  them  that  are  entering  to  go  in. 

ORIGEN  ;  Christ  is  truly  the  Son  of  that  God  Who  gave  the 
Law ;  after  the  example  of  the  blessings  pronounced  in  the 
Law,  did  Himself  pronounce  the  blessings  of  them  that  are 
saved ;  and  also  after  the  cursings  of  the  Law,  He  now  sets 
forth  a  woe  against  sinners ;  Woe  unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pha 
risees,  hypocrites.  They  who  allow  that  it  is  compatible  with 
goodness  to  utter  these  denunciations  against  sinners,  should 
understand  that  the  purpose  of  God  is  the  same  in  the  cursings 
of  the  Law.  Both  the  cursing  there  and  the  woe  here  fall  upon 
the  sinner  not  from  Him  who  denounces,  but  from  themselves 
who  commit  the  sins  which  are  denounced,  and  worthily 
bring  upon  themselves  the  inflictions  of  God's  discipline, 
appointed  for  the  turning  of  men  to  good.  So  a  father 
rebuking  a  son  utters  words  of  cursing,  but  does  not  desire 
that  he  should  become  deserving  of  those  curses,  but  rather 
that  he  should  turn  himself  from  them.  He  adds  the  cause 


VEU.    14.  ST.  MATTHEW.  777 

of  this  woe,  Ye  shut  up  ike  kingdom  of  heaven  against  men; 
for  ye  neither  go  in  yourselves,  nor  suffer   them  that  are 
entering  to  go  in.     These  two  commandments  are  by  nature 
inseparable ;  because  not  to  suffer  others  to  enter  in,  is  of 
itself  enough  to  keep  the  hinderer  out.     PSEUDO-CHRYS.  By 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  meant  the  Scriptures,  because  in 
them  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  lodged  ;  the  understanding  of 
these  is  the  door.     Or  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  the  blessed 
ness  of  heaven,  and  the  door  thereof  Christ,  by  Whom  men 
enter  in.     The  door-keepers  are  the  Priests,  to  whom  is  com 
mitted  the   word  of  teaching   or  interpreting  Scripture,  by 
which  the  door  of  truth  is  opened  to  men.     The  opening  of 
this  door  is  right  interpretation.     And  observe  that  He  said 
not,   Woe  unto  you,  for  ye  open,  but,  for  ye  shut  up;  the 
Scriptures  then  are  not  shut  up,  though  they  are  obscure. 
ORIGEN  ;  The  Pharisees  and  the  Scribes  then  would  neither 
enter  in,  nor  hear  Him  who  said,  By  me  if  any  man  enter  in  John 
he  shall  be  saved ;  nor  would  they  suffer  those  to  enter  in,    '   ' 
who  were  able  to  have  believed  through  the  things  which 
had  been  spoken  before  by  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  con 
cerning   Christ,  but  shut  up  the  door   with  every   kind   of 
device  to  deter  men  from  entering.     Also  they  detracted  from 
His  teaching,  denied   all   prophecy    concerning    Him,    and 
blasphemed  every   miracle  as  deceitful,  or  wrought  by  the 
Devil.     All  who  in  their  evil  conversation  set  an  example  of 
sinning  to  the  people,  and  who  commit  injustice,  offending 
the  weak,  seem  to  shut  up  the  kingdom  of  heaven  before  men. 
And  this  sin  is  found  among  the  people,  and  chiefly  among 
the  doctors,  when  they  teach  men  what  the  Gospel  righteous 
ness  requires  of  them,  but   do  not  what  they   teach.     But 
those  who  both  teach  and  live  well  open  to  men  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  and  both  enter  in  themselves,  and  invite  others  to 
enter  in.     Many  also  will  not  suffer  those  who  are  willing  to 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  when  they  without  reason 
excommunicate  out  of  jealousy  others  who  are  better  than 
themselves ;  thus   they  refuse  them  entrance,  but  these   of 
sober  spirit,  overcoming  by  their  patience  this  tyranny,  al 
though   forbidden,  yet   enter   in   and  inherit   the  kingdom. 
Also  they  who  with  much  rashness  have  set  themselves  to 
the  profession  of  teaching  before  they  have  learned,  and  fol- 


778  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIII. 

lowing  Jewish  fables,  detract  from  those  who  search  out  the 
higher  things  of  Scripture ;  these  do,  as  far  as  in  them  lies, 
shut  out  men  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

14.  Woe  unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypo 
crites  !  for  ye  devour  widows'  houses,  and  for  a  pre 
tence  make  long  prayer  :  therefore  ye  shall  receive 
the  greater  damnation. 

Chrys.  CHRYS.  Next  the  Lord  rebukes  them  for  their  gluttony, 
IxxHi.  an(i  what  was  the  worst,  that  not  from  the  rich  but  from 
widows  they  took  wherewith  to  fill  their  bellies,  thus  burden 
ing  the  poverty  of  those  whom  they  should  have  relieved. 
Gloss.  GLOSS.  Devour  widows'  houses,  that  is,  your  superstitions 
"'  have  this  only  aim,  namely,  to  make  a  gain  of  the  people 
that  is  put  under  you.  PsEUDO-CHRYS.  The  female  sex  is 
imprudent,  as  not  contemplating  with  reason  all  that  it  sees 
or  hears ;  and  weak,  as  being  easily  turned  either  from  bad  to 
good,  or  from  good  to  bad.  The  male  sex  is  more  prudent 
and  hardy.  And  therefore  pretenders  to  holiness  practise 
most  upon  women,  who  are  unable  to  see  their  hypocrisy,  and 
are  easily  inclined  to  love  them  on  the  ground  of  religion. 
But  widows  they  chiefly  choose  to  attempt ;  first,  because  a 
woman  who  has  her  husband  to  advise  her  is  not  so  readily 
deceived;  and  secondly,  she  has  not  the  means  of  giving, 
being  in  the  power  of  her  husband.  The  Lord  then,  whilst 
He  confounds  the  Jewish  Priests,  instructs  the  Christian  that 
they  should  not  frequent  widows  rather  than  others,  for 
though  their  purpose  may  not  be  bad,  it  gives  occasion  to 
suspicions.  CHRYS.  The  manner  of  this  plundering  is  griev 
ous,  for  they  make  long  prayers.  Every  one  who  does  evil 
deserves  punishment ;  but  he  who  takes  occasion  for  his 
offence  from  religion,  deserves  more  severe  punishment; 
Therefore  ye  shall  receive  the  greater  damnation.  PSEUDO- 
CHRYS.  First,  for  that  ye  are  wicked,  and  then  because  ye 
put  on  the  cloak  of  sanctity.  Your  covetousness  you  dress 
up  in  the  colour  of  religion,  and  use  God's  arms  in  the  Devil's 
service,  that  iniquity  may  be  loved  while  it  is  thought  to  be 
piety.  HILARY;  Or,  because  their  observance  of  the  king- 


VER.   15.  ST.  MATTHEW.  779 

dom  of  heaven  proceeds  hence,  that  they  may  keep  up  their 
practice  of  going  about  to  widows'  houses,  they  shall  there 
fore  receive  the  heavier  judgment,  as  having  their  own  sin 
and   the  ignorance  of  others  to   answer   for.      GLOSS.    Or,  GIOSS. 
because  the  servant  that  knew  his  Lord's  will  and  did  it}-^j£™ 
not,  shall  be  beaten  with  many  stripes.  12,  47. 

15.  Woe  unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypo 
crites  !  for  ye  compass  sea  and  land  to  make  one 
proselyte,  and  when  he  is  made,  you  make  him  two 
fold  more  the  child  of  hell  than  yourselves. 

CHRYS.  This  the  next  charge  against  them  is,  that  they 
are   unequal   to   the    salvation    of  many,  seeing   they  need 
so  much  labour  to  bring   one   to  salvation;    and   not   only 
are  they  slack  in  conversion,  but  destroy  even  those  whom 
they   do    convert,  by  corrupting  them   by    example    of  evil 
life.      HILARY;    That  they    compass    sea   and    land   signi 
fies     that    throughout    the     whole    world     they    shall    be 
enemies  of  Christ's  Gospel,  and  shall  bring  men  under  the 
yoke  of  the  Law  against  the  justification  of  faith.     There 
were  proselytes  made  into  the  Synagogue  from  among  the 
Gentiles,  the  small  number  of  whom  is  here  denoted  by  what 
is  said  one  proselyte.     For  after  the  preaching  of  Christ  there 
was  no  faith  left  in  their  doctrine,  but  whoever  was  gained  to 
the  faith  of  the  Jews  became  a  child  of  hell.     ORIGEN;  For 
all  who  Judaize  since  the  coming  of  the  Saviour,  are  taught  to 
follow  the  temper  of  those  who  cried  at  that  time,  Crucify, 
crucify  him.     HILARY;    And   he   becomes   the   child  of  a 
twofold  punishment,  because  he  has  not  obtained  remission  of 
his  Gentile  sins,  and  because  he  has  joined  the  society  of  those 
who  persecuted  Christ.     JEROME;  Or  otherwise;  The  Scribes 
and  Pharisees  compassed  the  whole  world  to  make  proselytes  of 
the  Gentiles,  that  is,  to  mix  the  uncircumcised  stranger  with 
the  people  of  God.     PSEUDO-CHRYS.  And  that  not  of  com 
passion  from   desire  to   save   him  whom   they  taught,   but 
either  from  covetousness,  that  the  greater  number  of  wor 
shippers  might  increase  the  number  of  offerings  made  in 
sacrifice,  or  out  of  vain  glory.     For  he  who  sinks  himself  in 
a  slough  of  sins,  how  should  he  be  desirous  to  rescue  another 


GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIII. 

out  of  them  ?  Will  a  man  be  more  merciful  to  another  than  to 

himself?    By  a  man's   actions  therefore  it  may  be  known 

whether  he  seeks  another's  conversion  for  God's  sake,  or  out 

Greg,     of  vain  glory.     GREG.  But  forasmuch  as  hypocrites  though 

xx°xi.9.  they  do  ever  crooked  things,  yet  cease  not  to  speak  right 

things,  and  thus  by  their  good  instructions  beget  sons,  but 

are  not  able  to  bring  them  up  by  good  life,  but  the  more 

they  give  themselves  up  to  worldly  works,  the  more  willingly 

do  they  suffer  those  whom  they  have  begotten  to  work  the 

same.     And  because  their  hearts  are  hardened,  these  very 

sons  whom  they  have  begotten  they  do  not  own  by  any  sign 

of  the    affection    due.     Wherefore    it   is   here    said   of  the 

hypocrites,  And  when  he  is  made,  ye  make  him  twofold  more 

Aug.     the  child  of  hell  than  yourselves.     AUG.  This  He  said  not 

iTu't    because  proselytes  were  circumcised,  but  because  they  imi- 

xvi.  29.  tated  the  lives  of  those  from  following  whom  He  had  prohi- 

cont.  A-bited  His  disciples,  saying,  Do  ye  not  after  their  works.    Two 

dimant.  things  are  observable  in    this  command ;    first,  the  honour 

Matt,     shewn  to  Moses'  teaching,  that  even  wicked  men  when  sitting 

23>  3'    in  his  seat  are  compelled  to  teach  good  things  ;  and  that  the 

proselyte  is  made  a  child  of  hell,  not  by  hearing  the  words 

of  the  Law,  but  by  following  their  doings.     And  twofold  more 

than  they  for  this  reason,  that  he  neglects  to  fulfil  what  he 

had  undertaken  of  his  own  choice,  having  been  not  born  a 

Jew,  but  of  free  will  become  a  Jew.     JEROME;  Or,  because 

before  while  he  was  a  Gentile  he  erred  in  ignorance,  and 

was    only  a   child   of  hell ;     but    seeing   the  vices   of  his 

masters,    and   understanding   that   they    destroyed   in   their 

actions  what  they  taught  in  words,  he  returns  to  his  vomit, 

and  becoming  a  Gentile,  he  is  worthy  of  greater  punishment 

as  one  that  has  deserted   his  cause.     PSEUDO-CHRYS.    Or, 

because  while  he  was  a  worshipper  of  idols,  he  observed 

righteousness  even  because  of  men  ;    but  when  he  became 

a  Jew,  prompted  by  the  example  of  evil  teachers,  he  became 

worse  than  his  teachers.     CHRYS.   For  a  disciple  imitates 

a  virtuous  master,  but  goes  beyond  a  vicious  one.     JEROME  ; 

He  is  called  a  child  of  hell  in  the  same  way  as  one  is  said 

to  be  a  child  of  perdition,  and  a  child  of  this  world ;  every 

man  is  called  the  son  of  him  whose  works  he  does.     ORIGEN  ; 

From  this  place  we  learn  that  there  will  be  a  difference  of 


VER.   16 22.  ST.    MATTHKW.  781 

torment  in  hell,  seeing  one  is  here  said  to  be  singly  a  child 
of  hell,  another  twofold.  And  we  ought  to  consider  here 
whether  it  is  possible  that  a  man  should  be  generally  a 
child  of  hell,  as  a  Jew,  suppose,  or  a  Gentile,  or  whether 
specially  so  in  consequence  of  some  particular  sins  ;  that  as 
a  righteous  man  is  increased  in  glory  by  the  abundance  of 
his  righteousnesses,  so  a  sinner's  punishment  is  increased 
manifold  by  the  number  of  his  sins. 

16.  Woe  unto   you,  ye  blind  guides,  which    say, 
Whosoever  shall  swear  by  the  temple,  it  is  nothing  ; 
but  whosoever  shall  swear  by  the  gold  of  the  temple, 
he  is  a  debtor  ! 

17.  Ye  fools  and  blind  :    for  whether  is  greater, 
the  gold,  or  the  temple  that  sanctifieth  the  gold  ? 

18.  And,  Whosoever  shall  swear  by  the  altar,  it  is 
nothing ;  but  whosoever  sweareth  by  the  gift  that  is 
upon  it,  he  is  guilty. 

19.  Ye  fools  and  blind :  for  whether  is  greater,  the 
gift,  or  the  altar  that  sanctifieth  the  gift  ? 

20.  Whoso    therefore    shall    swear   by  the    altar, 
sweareth  by  it,  and  by  all  things  thereon. 

21.  And  whoso  shall  swear  by  the  temple,  sweareth 
by  it,  and  by  him  that  dwelleth  therein. 

22.  And  he  that  shall  swear  by  heaven,  sweareth 
by   the    throne   of  God,    and   by   him   that   sitteth 
thereon. 

JEROME  ;  As  by  making  broad  phylacteries  and  fringes 
they  sought  after  the  reputation  of  sanctity,  and  made  this 
again  a  means  of  gain,  so  now  He  charges  them  with 
being  teachers  of  wickedness  by  their  fraudulent  pretence 
of  tradition.  For  when  in  any  dispute  or  quarrel,  or  am 
biguous  cause,  one  swore  by  the  temple,  arid  was  after 
wards  convicted  of  falsehood,  he  was  not  held  guilty. 
This  is  what  is  meant  by  that,  Whosoever  shall  swear  by  the 
temple,  it  is  nothing,  that  is,  he  owes  nothing,  But  if  he  had 


782  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

sworn  by  the  gold,  or  by  the  money  which  was  offered  to  the 
Priests  in  the  temple,  he  was  immediately  compelled  to  pay 
down  that  by  which  he  had  sworn.  PsEUDO-CnRYS.  The 
temple  pertains  to  God's  glory,  and  to  man's  spiritual  sal 
vation,  but  the  gold  of  the  temple  though  it  pertains  to  the 
glory  of  God,  yet  does  it  more  so  to  the  delight  of  man,  and 
the  profit  of  the  Priests.  The  Jews  then  pronounced  the  gold 
which  delighted  them,  and  the  gifts  which  fed  them,  to  be 
more  holy  than  the  temple,  that  they  might  make  men  more 
disposed  to  offer  gifts,  than  to  pour  out  prayers  in  the  temple. 
Whence  the  Lord  suitably  reproves  them  in  these  words. 
Yet  have  some  Christians  at  present  an  equally  foolish  notion. 
See,  they  say,  in  any  suit  if  one  swear  by  God,  it  seems  nought; 
but  if  one  swear  by  the  Gospel,  he  seems  to  have  done  some 
great  thing.  To  whom  we  shall  say  in  like  manner,  Ye  fools 
and  blind  !  the  Scriptures  were  written  because  of  God,  God 
is  not  because  of  the  Scriptures.  Greater  therefore  is  God, 
than  what  is  hallowed  by  Him.  JEROME;  Again,  if  one  swore 
by  the  altar,  none  held  him  guilty  of  perjury ;  but  if  he  swore 
by  the  gift  or  the  victims  or  the  other  things  which  are  offered 
to  God  upon  the  altar,  this  they  exacted  most  rigorously. 
And  all  this  they  did  not  out  of  fear  of  God,  but  out  of  covet- 
ousness.  Thus  the  Lord  charges  them  with  both  folly  and 
fraud,  inasmuch  as  the  altar  is  much  greater  than  the  victims 

Gloss.  which  are  sanctified  by  the  altar.  GLOSS.  And  lest  their  in- 
'fatuation  should  go  so  far,  that  they  should  affirm  that  the 
gold  was  more  holy  than  the  temple,  and  the  gift  than  the 
altar,  He  argues  on  another  ground,  that  in  the  oath  which  is 
sworn  by  the  temple  and  the  altar  is  contained  the  oath  by 
the  gold  or  by  the  gift.  ORIGEN;  In  like  manner  the  custom 
which  the  Jews  had  of  swearing  by  the  Heaven  He  reprobates. 
For  they  did  not,  as  they  supposed,  avoid  the  danger  of  taking 
an  oath  by  God,  because,  Whoso  swearelh  by  heaven,  swear  - 
etli  by  the  throne  of  God,  and  by  hint  that  sitteth  thereon. 

Gloss.    GLOSS.  For  whoso  swears  by  the   creature  that  is  subject, 
swears  by  the  Divinity  that  rules  over  the  creation. 

ORIGEN;  Now  an  oath  is  in  confirmation  of  somewhat  that 
has  been  spoken.  The  oath  here  then  may  signify  testimony  of 
Scripture  which  we  produce  in  confirmation  of  that  word  which 
we  speak.  So  that  Divine  Scripture  is  the  temple  of  God, 


VER.  23,  24.  ST.  MATTHEW.  783 

the  gold  is  the  meaning  which  it  contains.  As  the  gold  which 
is  outside  the  Temple  is  not  sanctified,  so  all  thoughts  which 
are  without  divine  Scripture,  however  admirable  they  may 
seem,  are  not  hallowed.  We  ought  not  therefore  to  bring  any 
speculations  of  our  own  for  the  confirmation  of  doctrine,  un 
less  such  as  we  can  shew  are  hallowed  by  being  contained 
in  divine  Scripture.  The  altar  is  the  human  heart,  which  is 
the  chief  thing  in  man.  The  offerings  and  gifts  that  are 
hid  upon  the  altar,  are  every  thing  which  are  done  in  the 
heart,  as  to  pray,  to  sing,  to  do  alms,  to  fast.  Every  offering 
of  a  man  then  is  sanctified  by  his  heart,  by  which  the  offering 
is  made.  There  cannot  therefore  be  a  more  honourable  offer 
ing  than  the  heart  of  man,  out  of  which  the  offering  proceeds. 
If  then  one's  conscience  does  not  smite  him,  he  has  confi 
dence  towards  God,  not  by  reason  of  his  gifts,  but  so  to  speak 
because  he  has  rightly  ordered  the  altar  of  his  heart.  Thirdly, 
we  may  say  that  over  the  temple,  that  is  over  every  Scripture, 
and  over  the  altar,  that  is  over  every  heart,  there  is  a  certain 
meaning  which  is  called  the  Heaven,  the  throne  of  God  Him 
self,  in  which  we  shall  be  able  to  see  the  things  that  are  re 
vealed  face  to  face,  when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come. 
HILARY  ;  For  since  Christ  is  come,  reliance  upon  the  Law  is 
vain ;  for  not  Christ  by  the  Law,  but  the  Law  by  Christ,  is 
sanctified,  in  whom  it  rests  as  on  a  seat  or  throne ;  so  are  they 
fools  and  blind,  who,  overlooking  the  sanctifier,  pay  honour  to 
the  things  sanctified.  AUG.  The  temple  and  altar  we  may  Aug 
also  understand  of  Christ  Himself;  the  gold  and  the  gifts,  of Ev 
the  praise  and  sacrifice  of  prayer  which  we  offer  in  Him  and 
through  Him.  For  not  He  by  them,  but  they  by  Him,  are 
sanctified. 


23.  Woe  unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypo 
crites  !    for  ye  pay  tithe  of  mint  and  anise  and  cum 
min,  and  have  omitted  the  weighter  matters  of  the 
law,  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith:    these  ought  ye  to 
have  done,  and  not  to  leave  the  other  undone. 

24.  Ye  blind  guides,  which  strain  at  a  gnat,  and 
swallow  a  camel. 


784  GOSPEI,  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIII. 

CHRYS.  The  Lord  had  said  above  that  they  bound  heavy 
burdens  upon  others,  which  they  themselves  would  not  touch ; 
He  now  again  shews  how  they  aimed  at  being  correct  in  little 
things,  but  neglected  weighty  matters.  JEROME  ;  The  Lord 
had  commanded,  that  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Priests  and 
Levites,  whose  portion  was  the  Lord,  tithes  of  every  thing 
should  be  offered  in  the  temple.  Accordingly,  the  Pharisees 
(to  dismiss  mystical  expositions)  concerned  themselves  about 
this  alone,  that  these  trifling  things  should  be  paid  in,  but 
lightly  esteemed  other  things  which  were  weighty.  He 
charges  them  then  with  covetousness  in  exacting  carefully 
the  tithes  of  worthless  herbs,  while  they  neglected  justice  in 
their  transactions  of  business,  mercy  to  the  poor,  and  faith 
toward  God,  which  are  weighty  things.  PSEUDO-CHRYS. 
Or,  because  these  covetous  Priests,  when  any  one  did  not 
bring  his  tithes  of  the  smallest  thing,  made  it  a  matter  of 
grave  reprehension ;  but  when  one  injured  his  neighbour  or 
sinned  against  God,  they  were  at  no  pains  to  reprove  him, 
careful  only  of  their  own  profit,  neglecting  the  glory  of  God, 
and  the  salvation  of  men.  For  to  observe  righteousness, 
to  do  mercy,  and  to  have  faith,  these  things  God  commanded 
for  His  own  glory  ;  but  the  payment  of  tithes  He  established 
for  the  support  of  the  Priests,  so  that  the  Priests  should 
minister  to  the  people  in  spiritual  things,  and  the  people 
supply  the  Priests  with  carnal  things.  Thus  is  it  at  this 
time,  when  all  are  careful  of  their  own  honour,  none  of  God's 
honour;  they  jealously  protect  their  own  rights,  but  will  not 
bestow  any  pains  in  the  service  of  the  Church.  If  the  people 
pay  not  their  tithes  duly,  they  murmur ;  but  if  they  see  the 
people  in  sin,  they  utter  not  a  word  against  them.  But 
because  some  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  to  whom  He  is 
now  speaking,  were  of  the  people,  it  is  not  unsuitable  to 
make  a  different  interpretation ;  and  '  to  tithe'  may  be  used 
as  well  of  him  who  pays,  as  of  him  who  receives,  tithes.  The 
Scribes  then  and  Pharisees  offered  tithes  of  the  very  best 
things  for  the  purpose  of  displaying  their  righteousness  ;  but 
in  their  judgments  they  were  unjust,  without  mercy  for  their 
brethren,  without  faith  for  the  truth. 

ORIGEN  ;  But  because  it  was  possible  that  some,  hearing 
the  Lord  speak  thus,  might  thereupon  neglect  paying  tithes 


VER.  25,  26.  ST.  MATTHEW.  785 

of  small  things,  He  prudently  adds,  TJiese  things  ought  ye 
to  have  done,  (i.  e.  justice,  mercy,  and  faith,)  and  not  to  leave 
the  others  undone,  i.  e.  the  tithing  of  mint,  anise,  and  cum 
min.  REMIG.  In  these  words  the  Lord  shews  that  all  the 
commandments  of  the  Law,  greatest  and  least,  are  to  be  ful 
filled.  They  also  are  refuted  who  give  alms  of  the  fruits  of 
the  earth,  supposing  that  thus  they  cannot  sin,  whereas  their 
alms  profit  them  nothing  unless  they  are  careful  to  keep 
themselves  from  sin.  HILARY;  And  because  it  was  much  less 
guilt  to  omit  the  tithing  of  herbs  than  a  duty  of  benevolence, 
the  Lord  derides  them,  Ye  blind  guides,  which  strain  out  a 
gnat,  and  swallow  a  camel.  JEROME  ;  The  camel  I  suppose  to 
mean  the  weighty  precepts,  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith  ;  the 
gnat,  the  tithing  of  mint,  anise,  and  cummin,  and  other  value 
less  herbs.  The  greater  of  God's  commands  we  swallow  and 
overlook,  but  shew  our  carelessness  by  a  religious  scru 
pulousness  in  little  things  which  bring  profit  with  them. 
ORIGEN  ;  Or,  straining  out  a  gnat,  that  is,  putting  from  them 
small  sins;  swallowing  a  camel,  that  is,  committing  great 
sins,  which  He  calls  camels,  from  the  size  and  distorted 
shape  of  that  animal.  Morally,  The  Scribes  are  those  who 
think  nothing  else  contained  in  Scripture  than  the  bare  letter 
exhibits ;  the  Pharisees  are  all  those  who  esteem  themselves 
righteous,  and  separate  themselves  from  others,  saying, '  Come 
not  nigh  me,  for  I  am  clean.'  Mint,  anise,  and  cummin,  are 
the  seasoning,  not  the  substantial  part  of  food  ;  as  in  our  life 
and  conversation  there  are  some  things  necessary  to  justifi 
cation,  as  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith ;  and  others  which  are 
like  the  seasoning  of  our  actions,  giving  them  a  flavour  and 
sweetness,  as  abstinence  from  laughter,  fasting,  bending  the 
knee,  and  such  like.  How  shall  they  not  be  judged  blind 
who  see  not  that  it  is  of  little  avail  to  be  a  careful  dispenser 
in  the  least  things,  if  things  of  chief  moment  are  neglected  ? 
These  His  present  discourse  overthrows;  not  forbidding  to 
observe  the  little  things,  but  bidding  to  keep  more  carefully 
the  chief  things.  GREG.  Or  otherwise;  The  gnat  stings  Greg, 
while  it  hums ;  the  camel  bows  its  back  to  receive  its  load.  15°r' 
The  Jews  then  strained  off  the  gnat,  when  they  prayed  to 
have  the  seditious  robber  released  to  them ;  and  they  swal- 
VOL.  i.  3  E 


786  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXII. 

lowed  the  camel,  when  they  sought  with  shouts  the  death  of 
Him  who  had  voluntarily  taken  on  Him  the  burden  of  our 
mortality. 


25.  Woe  unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypo 
crites!  for  ye  make  clean  the  outside  of  the  cup  and 
of  the  platter,  but  within  they  are  full  of  extortion 
and  excess. 

26.  Thou  blind  Pharisee,  cleanse  first  that  which 
is  within  the  cup  and  platter,  that  the  outside  of 
them  may  be  clean  also. 

JEROME;  In  different  words,  but  to  the  same  purport  as 
before,  He  reproves  the  hypocrisy  and  dissimulation  of  the 
Pharisees,  that  they  shewed  one  face  to  men  abroad,  but 
wore  another  at  home.  He  means  not  here,  that  their 
scrupulousness  respecting  the  cup  and  the  platter  was  of  any 
importance,  but  that  they  affected  it  to  pass  off  their  sanctity 
upon  men;  which  is  clear  from  His  adding,  but  inwardly 
ye  are  full  of  ravening  and  uncleanness.  PSEUDO-CHRYS. 
Or,  He  means  that  the  Jews  whenever  they  were  to  enter  the 
temple  or  to  offer  sacrifice,  or  on  any  festivals,  used  to  wash 
themselves,  their  clothes,  and  their  vessels,  but  none  cleansed 
himself  from  his  sins;  but  God  neither  commends  bodily 
cleanliness,  nor  condemns  the  contrary.  But  suppose  foul 
ness  of  person  or  of  vessels  were  offensive  to  God,  which 
must  become  foul  by  being  used,  how  much  more  does  He 
not  abhor  foulness  of  conscience,  which  we  may,  if  we  will, 
keep  ever  pure  ?  HILARY  ;  He  therefore  is  reproving  those 
who,  pursuing  an  ostentation  of  useless  scrupulosity,  neglected 
the  discharge  of  useful  morality.  For  it  is  the  inside  of  the 
cup  that  is  used;  if  that  be  foul,  what  profit  is  it  to  cleanse 
the  outside  ?  And  therefore  what  is  needed  is  purity  of  the 
inner  conscience,  that  those  things  which  are  of  the  body 
may  be  clean  without.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  This  He  speaks  not 
of  the  cup  and  platter  of  sense,  but  of  that  of  the  understand 
ing,  which  may  be  pure  before  God,  though  it  have  never 


VER.  27,  28.  ST.  MATTHEW.  787 

touched  water ;  but  if  it  have  sinned,  then  though  the  water 
of  the  whole  ocean  and  of  all  rivers  have  washed  it,  it  is  foul 
and  guilty  before  God.  CHRYS.  Note,  that  speaking  of 
tithes  He  said,  Tliese  things  ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not 
to  leave  the  other  undone :  for  tithes  are  a  kind  of  alms,  and 
what  wrong  is  it  to  give  alms  ?  Yet  said  He  it  not  to  enforce 
a  legal  superstition.  But  here,  discoursing  of  things  clean 
and  unclean,  He  does  not  add  this,  but  distinguishes  and 
shews  that  external  purity  of  necessity  follows  internal ;  the 
outside  of  the  cup  and  platter  signifying  the  body,  the  inside 
the  soul.  ORIGEN  ;  This  discourse  instructs  us  that  we 
should  hasten  to  become  righteous,  not  to  seem  so.  For 
whoso  seeks  to  be  thought  so,  cleanses  the  outside,  and  has 
care  of  the  things  that  are  seen,  but  neglects  the  heart  and 
conscience.  But  he  who  seeks  to  cleanse  that  which  is 
within,  that  is,  the  thoughts,  makes  by  that  means  the  things 
without  clean  also.  All  professors  of  false  doctrine  are  cups 
cleansed  on  the  outside,  because  of  that  show  of  religion 
which  they  affect,  but  within  they  are  full  of  extortion  and 
guile,  hurrying  men  into  error.  The  cup  is  a  vessel  for 
liquids,  the  platter  for  meat.  Every  discourse  then  of  which 
we  spiritually  drink,  and  all  speech  by  which  we  are  fed,  are 
vessels  for  meat  and  drink.  They  who  study  to  set  forth 
well  wrought  discourse  rather  than  such  as  is  full  of  healthful 
meaning,  are  cups  cleansed  without ;  but  within  full  of  the 
defilement  of  vanity.  Also  the  letter  of  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets  is  a  cup  of  spiritual  drink,  and  a  platter  of  necessary 
food.  The  Scribes  and  Pharisees  seek  to  make  plain  the 
outward  sense;  Christ's  disciples  labour  to  exhibit  the 
spiritual  sense. 


27.  Woe  unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypo 
crites  !  for  ye  are  like  unto  whited  sepulchres,  which 
indeed  appear  beautiful  outward,  but  are  within  full 
of  dead  men's  bones,  and  of  all  uncleanness. 

28.  Even  so  ye  also  outwardly  appear  righteous 
unto  men,  but  within  ye  are  full  of  hypocrisy  and 
iniquity. 

3  E  2 


788  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIII. 

ORIGEN  ;  As  above  they  are  said  to  be  full  of  extortion 
and  excess,  so  here  they  are  full  of  hypocrisy  and  iniquity, 
and  are  likened  to  dead  men's  bones,  and  all  uncleanness. 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Justly  are  the  bodies  of  the  righteous  said 
to  be  temples,  because  in  the  body  of  the  righteous  the  soul 
has  dominion,  as  God  in  His  temple;  or  because  God  Him 
self  dwells  in  righteous  bodies.  But  the  bodies  of  sinners 
are  called  sepulchres  of  the  dead,  because  the  sinner's  soul  is 
dead  in  his  body;  for  that  cannot  be  deemed  to  be  alive, 
which  does  no  spiritual  or  living  act.  JEROME;  Sepulchres 
are  whitened  with  lime  without,  and  decorated  with  marble 
painted  in  gold  and  various  colours,  but  within  are  full  of 
dead  men's  bones.  Thus  crooked  teachers  who  teach  one 
thing  and  do  another,  affect  purity  in  their  dress,  and  humility 
in  their  speech,  but  within  are  full  of  all  uncleanness,  covet- 
ousness,  and  lust.  ORIGEN  ;  For  all  feigned  righteousness  is 
dead,  forasmuch  as  it  is  not  done  for  God's  sake ;  yea,  rather 
it  is  no  righteousness  at  all,  any  more  than  a  dead  man  is  a 
man,  or  an  actor  who  represents  any  character  is  the  man 
whom  he  represents.  There  is  therefore  within  them  so 
much  of  bones  and  uncleanness  as  are  the  good  things  that 
they  wickedly  pretend  to.  And  they  seem  righteous  out- 
Ps.82,  wardly,  not  in  the  eyes  of  such  as  the  Scripture  calls  Gods,bui 

I'          of  such  only  as  die  like  men.     GREG.  But  before  their  strict 

"reS- 

Mor.     Judge  they  cannot  have  the  plea  of  ignorance,  for  by  assuming 

in  the  eyes  of  men  every  form  of  sanctity,  they  witness 
against  themselves  that  they  are  not  ignorant  how  to  live 
well.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  But  say,  hypocrite,  if  it  be  good  to 
be  wicked,  why  do  you  not  desire  to  seem  that  which  you 
desire  to  be?  For  what  it  is  shameful  to  seem,  that  it  is 
more  shameful  to  be;  and  what  to  seem  is  fair,  that  it  is 
fairer  to  be.  Either  therefore  be  what  you  seem,  or  seem 
what  you  are. 


29.  Woe  unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypo 
crites!  because  ye  build  the  tombs  of  the  prophets, 
and  garnish  the  sepulchres  of  the  righteous, 

30.  And  say,  If  we  had  been  in  the  days  of  our 


VER.  29 31.  ST.  MATTHEW.  789 

fathers,  we  would  not  have  been  partakers  with  them 
in  the  blood  of  the  prophets. 

31.  Wherefore  ye  be  witnesses  unto  yourselves, 
that  ye  are  the  children  of  them  which  killed  the 
prophets. 

JEROME;  By  a  most  subtle  syllogism  He  proves  them  to 
be  the  sons  of  murderers,  while  to  gain  good  character  and 
reputation  with  the  people,  they  build  the  sepulchres  of  the 
Prophets  whom  their  fathers  put  to  death.  ORIGEN  ;  With 
out  just  cause  He  seems  to  utter  denunciations  against  those 
who  build  the  sepulchres  of  the  Prophets ;  for  so  far  what 
they  did  was  praiseworthy;  how  then  do  they  deserve  this 
woe  ?  CHRYS.  He  does  not  blame  them  for  building  the  Chrys. 
sepulchres,  but  discovers  the  design  with  which  they  built  ixxjv* 
them;  which  was  not  to  honour  the  slain,  but  to  erect  to 
themselves  a  triumphal  monument  of  the  murder,  as  fearing 
that  in  process  of  time  the  memory  of  this  their  audacious 
wickedness  should  perish.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Or,  they  said 
within  themselves,  If  we  do  good  to  the  poor  not  many  see  it, 
and  then  but  for  a  moment;  were  it  not  better  to  raise 
buildings  which  all  may  see,  not  only  now,  but  in  all  time  to 
come  ?  O  foolish  man,  what  boots  this  posthumous  memory, 
if,  where  you  are,  you  are  tortured,  and  where  you  are  not 
there  you  are  praised?  While  He  corrects  the  Jews,  He 
instructs  the  Christians ;  for  had  these  things  been  spoken  to 
the  former  only,  they  would  have  been  spoken,  but  not 
written ;  but  now  they  were  spoken  on  their  account,  and 
written  on  ours.  When  one,  besides  other  good  deeds,  raises 
sacred  buildings,  it  is  an  addition  to  his  good  works ;  but  if 
without  any  other  good  works,  it  is  a  passion  for  worldly 
renown.  The  martyrs  joy  not  to  be  honoured  with  money 
which  has  caused  the  poor  to  weep.  The  Jews,  moreover, 
have  ever  been  adorers  of  saints  of  former  times,  and 
contemners,  yea  persecutors,  of  the  living.  Because  they 
could  not  endure  the  reproaches  of  their  own  Prophets,  they 
persecuted  and  killed  them ;  but  afterwards  the  succeeding 
generation  perceived  the  error  of  their  fathers,  and  thus 
in  grief  at  the  death  of  innocent  Prophets,  they  built  up 


790  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIII. 

monuments  of  them.  But  they  themselves  in  like  manner 
persecuted  and  put  to  death  the  Prophets  of  their  own  time, 
when  they  rebuked  them  for  their  sins.  This  is  what  is  meant, 
And  ye  say,  ]f  we  had  been  in  the  days  of  our  fathers>  ue 
would  not  have  been  partakers  with  them  in  the  blood  of  the 
Prophets.  JEROME  ;  Though  they  speak  not  this  in  words, 
they  proclaim  it  by  their  actions,  in  ambitious  and  magnifi 
cent  structures  to  their  memory.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  What  they 
thought  in  their  hearts,  that  they  spoke  by  their  deeds.  Christ 
lays  bare  here  the  natural  habit  of  all  wicked  men ;  each  rea 
dily  apprehends  the  other's  fault,  but  none  his  own ;  for  in 
another's  case  each  man  has  an  unprejudiced  heart,  but  in 
his  own  case  it  is  distorted.  Therefore  in  the  cause  of  others 
we  can  all  easily  be  righteous  judges.  He  only  is  the  truly 
righteous  and  wise  who  is  able  to  judge  himself.  It  follows, 
Wherefore  ye  be  witnesses  unto  yourselves,  that  you  are  the 
children  of  them  which  killed  the  Prophets.  CHRYS.  What 
kind  of  accusation  is  this,  to  call  one  the  son  of  a  murderer,  who 
partakes  not  in  his  father's  disposition  ?  Clearly  there  is  no 
guilt  in  being  so;  wherefore  this  must  be  said  in  proof  of  their 
resemblance  in  wickedness.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  The  character 
of  the  parents  is  a  witness  to  the  sons ;  if  the  father  be  good 
and  the  mother  bad,  or  the  reverse,  the  children  may  follow 
sometimes  one,  sometimes  the  other.  But  when  both  are 
the  same,  it  very  rarely  happens  that  bad  sons  spring  of  good 
parents,  or  the  reverse,  though  it  be  so  sometimes.  This  is 
as  a  man  is  sometimes  born  out  of  the  rule  of  nature,  having 
six  fingers  or  no  eyes. 

ORIGEN  ;  And  in  the  prophetic  writings,  the  historical 
sense  is  the  body,  the  spiritual  meaning  is  the  soul;  the 
sepulchres  are  the  letter  and  books  themselves  of  Scripture. 
They  then  who  attend  only  to  the  historical  meaning, 
honour  the  bodies  of  the  Prophets,  and  set  in  the  letter 
as  in  a  sepulchre ;  and  are  called  Pharisees,  i.  e.  '  cut 
off,'  as  it  were  cutting  off  the  soul  of  the  Prophets  from  their 
body. 

32.  Fill  ye  up  then  the  measure  of  your  fathers. 

33.  Ye  serpents,  ye  generation  of  vipers,  how  can 
ye  escape  the  damnation  of  hell  ? 


VER.  82 36.  ST.  MATTHEW.  791 

34.  Wherefore,  behold,  I  send  unto  you  prophets, 
and  wise  men,  and  Scribes ;   and  some  of  them  ye 
shall  kill  and  crucify ;  and    some  of  them    shall  ye 
scourge    in    your   synagogues,  and   persecute    them 
from  city  to  city  : 

35.  That  upon   you  may  come  all  the  righteous 
blood  shed  upon   the  earth,  from  the  blood  of  righ 
teous  Abel  unto  the  blood  of  Zacharias  son  of  Bara- 
chias,  whom  ye   slew  between  the  temple  and   the 
altar. 

36.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  All  these  things  shall 
come  upon  this  generation. 

CHRYS.  He  had  said  against  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
that  they  were  the  children  of  those  who  killed  the  Prophets ; 
now  therefore  He  shews  that  they  were  like  them  in  wicked 
ness,  and  that  that  was  false  that  they  said,  If  we  had  been  in 
the  days  of  our  fathers,  we  would  not  have  been  partakers  with 
them  in  the  blood  of  the  Prophets.  Wherefore  He  now  says, 
Fill  ye  up  the  measure  of  your  fathers.  This  is  not  a  com 
mand,  but  a  prophecy  of  what  is  to  be.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  He 
foretels,  that  as  their  fathers  killed  the  Prophets,  so  they  also 
should  kill  Christ,  and  the  Apostles,  and  other  holy  men. 
As  suppose  you  had  a  quarrel  with  some  one,  you  might  say 
to  your  adversary,  Do  to  me  what  you  are  about  to  do ;  but 
you  do  not  therein  bid  him  do  it,  but  shew  him  that  you  are 
aware  of  his  manoeuvres.  And  in  fact  they  went  beyond  the 
measure  of  their  fathers ;  for  they  put  to  death  only  men, 
these  crucified  God.  But  because  He  stooped  to  death  of 
His  own  free  choice,  He  does  not  lay  on  them  the  sin 
of  His  death,  but  only  the  death  of  the  Apostles  and  other 
holy  men.  Whence  also  He  said,  Fill  up,  and  not  Fill  over; 
for  a  just  and  merciful  Judge  overlooks  his  own  wrongs,  and 
only  punishes  those  done  to  others.  ORIGEN;  They  fill  up  the 
measure  of  their  fathers1  sins  by  their  not  believing  in  Christ. 
And  the  cause  of  their  unbelief  was,  that  they  looked  only  to 
the  letter  and  the  body,  and  would  understand  nothing  spiri 
tual  in  them.  HILARY  ;  Because  then  they  will  fill  up  the 


792  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIII. 

measure  of  their  fathers'  purposes,  therefore  are  they  serpents, 
and  an  offspring  of  vipers.  JEROME  ;  The  same  had  been  said 
by  John  the  Baptist.  Wherefore  as  of  vipers  are  born  vipers, 
so  of  your  fathers  who  were  murderers  are  you  born  murderers. 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.  He  calls  them  offspring  of  vipers,  because 
the  nature  of  vipers  is  such  that  the  young  burst  the  womb 
of  their  dam,  and  so  come  forth  ;  and  in  like  manner  the  Jews 
condemned  their  fathers,  finding  fault  with  their  deeds.  He 
says,  How  shall  ye  escape  the  damnation  of  hell  ?  By  build 
ing  the  tombs  of  the  saints  ?  But  the  first  step  of  piety  is  to 
love  hoh'ness,  the  next,  to  love  the  saints ;  for  it  is  not  rea 
sonable  in  him  to  honour  the  righteous,  who  despises  righteous 
ness.  The  saints  cannot  be  friends  to  those  to  whom  God 
is  an  enemy.  Shall  ye  be  saved  by  a  mere  name,  because  ye 
seem  to  be  among  God's  people !  Forasmuch  as  an  open  enemy 
is  better  than  a  false  friend,  so  is  he  more  hateful  to  God,  who 
calls  himself  the  servant  of  God,  and  does  the  commands  of  the 
Devil.  Indeed,  before  God  he  who  has  resolved  to  kill  a  worm 
is  a  murderer  before  the  deed  is  done,  for  it  is  the  will  that  is 
rewarded  for  good,  or  punished  for  evil.  Deeds  are  evidence  of 
the  will.  God  then  does  not  require  deeds  on  His  own  ac 
count  that  He  may  know  how  to  judge,  but  for  the  sake  of 
other  men,  that  they  may  perceive  that  God  is  righteous. 
And  God  affords  the  opportunity  of  sin  to  the  wicked,  not 
to  make  them  sin,  but  to  manifest  the  sinner;  and  also  to  the 
good  He  gives  opportunity  to  shew  the  purpose  of  their  will. 
In  this  way  then  He  gave  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  oppor 
tunity  of  shewing  their  purposes,  Behold,  I  send  unto  you 
Prophets,  and  wise  men,  and  Scribes.  HILARY;  That  is,  the 
Apostles,  who,  as  foretelling  things  to  come,  are  Prophets ;  as 
having  knowledge  of  Christ,  are  wise  men;  as  understanding 
the  Law,  are  Scribes.  JEROME  ;  Or,  as  the  Apostle  writes 
i  Cor.  to  the  Corinthians  that  there  are  various  gifts  among  Christ's 
disciples;  some  Prophets,  who  foretel  things  to  come;  some 
wise  men,  who  know  when  they  ought  to  speak;  others 
Scribes  taught  in  the  Law ;  of  whom  Stephen  was  stoned, 
Paul  killed,  Peter  crucified,  and  the  disciples  of  the  Apostles 
beaten,  in  the  Acts  ;  arid  they  persecuted  them  from  city  to 
city,  driving  them  out  of  Judaea,  that  they  might  go  to  the 
Gentiles.  ORIGEN;  Or  the  Scribes  who  are  sent  by  Christ, 


VER.  32 — 36.  ST.  MATTHEW.  793 

are  Scribes  according  to  the  Gospel,  whom  the  spirit  quickens 
and  the  letter  does  not  kill,  as  did  the  letter  of  the  Law, 
which  whoso  followed  ran  into  vain  superstitions.  The 
simple  words  of  the  Gospel  are  sufficient  for  salvation.  But 
the  Scribes  of  the  Law  do  yet  scourge  the  Scribes  of  the 
New  Testament,  by  detracting  from  them  in  their  syna 
gogues;  and  the  heretics  also,  who  are  spiritual  Pharisees, 
with  their  tongues  murder  the  Christians,  and  persecute 
them  from  city  to  city,  sometimes  in  the  body,  sometimes 
also  in  the  spirit,  seeking  to  drive  them  from  their  own 
city  of  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Gospel,  into  an 
other  Gospel.  CHRYS.  Then  to  shew  them  that  they  should 
not  do  this  without  punishment,  He  holds  out  an  un 
speakable  terror  over  them,  That  upon  you  may  come  all 
the  righteous  blood.  RABAN.  That  is,  all  the  vengeance  due 
for  the  shedding  of  the  blood  of  the  righteous.  JEROME; 
Concerning  the  Abel  here  spoken  of,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
it  is  he  whom  his  brother  Cain  murdered.  He  is  proved 
to  have  been  righteous,  not  only  by  this  judgment  of  the 
Lord,  but  by  the  passage  in  Genesis,  which  says  that  his 
offerings  were  accepted  by  God.  But  we  must  enquire  who 
is  this  Zacharias,  son  of  Barachias,  because  we  read  of  many 
Zachariases;  and  that  we  might  not  mistake,  here  it  is  added, 
whom  ye  slew  between  the  temple  and  the  altar.  Some 
say  that  it  is  that  Zacharias  who  is  the  eleventh  among  the 
twelve  Prophets,  and  his  father's  name  agrees  to  this,  but 
when  he  was  slain  between  the  temple  and  the  altar,  Scripture 
does  not  mention ;  but  above  all,  in  his  time  there  were  scarce 
'even  the  ruins  of  the  temple.  Others  will  have  it  to  be 
Zacharias  the  father  of  John.  ORIGEN;  A  tradition  has 
come  down  to  us,  that  there  was  one  place  in  the  temple  in 
which  virgins  were  allowed  to  worship  God,  married  women 
being  forbidden  to  stand  there.  And  Mary,  after  the  Saviour's 
birth,  going  into  the  temple,  stood  to  pray  in  this  place  of 
the  virgins.  And  when  they  who  knew  that  she  had  borne 
a  Son  were  hindering  her,  Zacharias  said,  that  forasmuch  as 
she  was  still  a  virgin,  she  was  worthy  of  the  place  of  the 
virgins.  Whereupon,  as  though  he  manifestly  were  con 
travening  the  Law,  he  was  slain  there  between  the  temple 
and  the  altar  by  the  men  of  that  generation ;  and  thus  this 


794  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIII. 

word  of  Christ  is  true  which  He  spake  to  those  who  were 
standing  there,  whom  ye  slew".  JEROME;  Bat  as  this  has  no 
Scripture  authority,  it  is  as  readily  despised  as  offered.  Others 
2Chron.wiU  have  it  to  be  that  Zacharias  who  was  killed  by  Joas, 
king  of  Judah,  between  the  temple  and  the  altar,  that  is,  in 
the  court  of  the  temple.  But  that  Zacharias  was  not  the 
son  of  Barachias,  but  of  Jehoiada  the  Priest.  But  Barachias 
in  our  language  is  interpreted  '  Blessed  of  the  Lord,'  so  that 
the  righteousness  of  Joiada  the  Priest  is  expressed  by  this 
Hebrew  word.  But  in  the  Gospel  which  the  Nazarenes  use, 
we  find  written  '  son  of  Joiada'  instead  of  son  of  Barachias. 
REMIG.  It  should  be  enquired  too  how  He  says,  to  the  blood 
of  Zacharias,  since  the  blood  of  many  more  saints  was 
afterwards  shed.  This  is  thus  explained.  Abel  a  keeper 
of  sheep  was  killed  in  the  field,  Zacharias  a  priest  was 
slain  in  the  court  of  the  temple.  The  Lord  therefore 
names  these  two,  because  by  these  all  holy  martyrs  are 
denoted,  both  of  lay  and  priestly  order.  CHRYS.  More 
over,  He  names  Abel,  to  shew  that  it  would  be  out  of  envy 
that  they  would  kill  Christ  and  His  disciples.  He  names 
Zacharias,  because  there  was  a  twofold  resemblance  in 
his  case,  the  sacred  place,  as  well  as  the  sacred  person. 

ORIGEN  j  Zacharias  is  interpreted  *  The  memory  of  God.' 
Whosoever  then  hastes  to  obliterate  the  memory  of  God, 
seems  to  those  to  whom  he  gives  offence  to  shed  the  blood 
of  Zacharias  the  son  of  Barachias.  For  it  is  by  the  blessing 
of  God  that  we  retain  the  memory  of  God.  Also  the  memory 
of  God  is  slain  by  the  wicked,  when  the  Temple  of  God  is 
polluted  by  the  lustful,  and  His  altar  defiled  by  the  careless 
ness  of  prayers.  Abel  is  interpreted  '  mourning.'  He  then 
who  does  not  receive  that,  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn, 
sheds  the  blood  of  Abel,  that  is,  puts  away  the  truth  of  whole 
some  mourning.  Some  also  shed,  as  it  were,  the  blood  of 
the  .Scriptures  by  putting  aside  their  truth,  for  all  Scripture, 
if  it  is  not  understood  according  to  its  truth,  is  dead.  CHRYS. 

•  This  tradition  is  mentioned  also  by  phal  books,  but  sets  it  aside  and  adopts 

CyrilA.?  adv.  Anthrop.27.  andPseudo-  the  interpretation   given  in  the  text. 

Basil,  Horn,  de  Sanct.  Christ.  Gen.  5.  The  murder  of  Zacharias,  father  of  John 

Theopbylact  (in  loc.)  and  Euthymius  the  Baptist,  is  related  in  the  apocryphal 

who  mention  it,  probably  derived  it  from  Protevangelium  of  S.  James,  c.  23.  but 

Origen.    Jerome  (in  loc.)  gives  another  ascribed  to  a  different  cause, 
of  the  same  character  from  some  apocry- 


VER.  37 — 39.  ST.  MATTHEW.  795 

And  to  take  away  all  excuse  from  them  that  they  might  not 
say,  Because  you  sent  them  to  the  Gentiles  thereat  were  we 
offended,  He  foretels  that  His  disciples  should  be  sent  to 
them,  and  it  is  of  their  punishment  that  He  adds,  Verily  I 
say  unto  you,  all  these  things  shall  come  upon  this  generation. 
GLOSS.  He  means  not  only  those  there  present,  but  the  whole  Gloss. 
generation  before  and  after,  for  all  were  one  city  and  oneord' 
body  of  the  Devil.     JEROME;  The  rule  of  the  Scriptures  is 
only  to  know  two  generations,  one  of  good  the  other  of  bad. 
Of  the  generation  of  the  good  it  is  said,  The  generation  0/Vg.  112 
the  righteous  shall  be  blessed.     And  of  the  bad  it  is  said  in  2- 
the  present   passage,    Generation   of  vipers.     These    then, 
because  they  did  against  the  Apostles  like  things  as  Cain 
and  Joas,  are  described  as  of  one  generation.     CHRYS.  Other 
wise  ;    Because  He  delayed  the  punishment  of  hell  which 
He  had  threatened  them  with,  He  pronounces  against  them 
threats  of  present  evil,  saying,  All  these  things  shall  come 
upon  this  generation.     PSEUDO-CHRYS.  As  all  the  good  things 
which  had  been  merited  by  all  the  saints  in  each  generation 
since  the  foundation  of  the  world  were  bestowed  upon  that 
last  generation  which  received  Christ;    so  all  the  evil  that 
all  the  wicked  in  every  generation  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world  had  deserved  to  suffer,  came  upon  that  last  genera 
tion  of  the  Jews  which  rejected  Christ.     Or  thus ;  As  all  the 
righteous  of  former  saints,  yea,  of  all  the  saints,  could  not  merit 
that  so  great  grace  as  was  given  to  men  in  Christ;  so  the 
sins  of  all  the  wicked  could  not  deserve  so  much  evil  as  came 
upon  the  Jews,  that  they  should  suffer  such  things  as  these 
suffered  from  the  Romans,  and  that  in  after  time  every  gene 
ration  of  them  to  the  end  of  the  world  should  be  cast  off  from 
God,  and  be  made  a  mock  by  all  the  Gentiles.     For  what 
is  there  worse  than  to  reject  and  in  such  sort  to  put  to  death 
the  Son  coming  in  mercy  and  lowliness  !     Or  thus  ;  Nations 
and   states  when   they  sin   are  not   thereupon  immediately 
punished  by  God,  but  He  waits  for  many  generations ;  but 
when  He  sees  fit  to  destroy  that  state  or  nation,  He  then 
seems  to  visit  upon  them  the  sins  of  all  former  generations, 
and   one    generation   suffers   the  accumulation   of  all   that 
former  generations  have  deserved.     Thus  this  generation  of 
the  Jews  seems  to  have  been  punished  for  their  fathers  ;  but 


796  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIII. 

in  truth  they  suffered  not  for  others,  but  on  their  own  account. 
CHRYS.  For  he  who  having  seen  many  sinning  yet  remains 
unconnected,  but  rather  does  the  same  or  worse,  is  obnoxious 
to  heavier  punishment. 

37.  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the 
prophets,  and  stonest  them  which  are  sent  unto  thee, 
how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  toge 
ther,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her 
wings,  and  ye  would  not ! 

38.  Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate. 

39.  For  I  say  unto  you,  Ye  shall  not  see  me  hence 
forth,  till  ye  shall  say,  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord. 

CHRYS.  The  Lord  next  turns  to  address  the  city,  desiring 
to  instruct  His  hearers  thereby.  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem  : 
this  repetition  of  the  name  is  a  mark  of  compassion  and 
intense  love.  JEROME  ;  By  Jerusalem  He  means  not  the 
stones  and  buildings,  but  the  dwellers  there,  over  whom  He 
laments  with  the  feeling  of  a  Father.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Fore 
seeing  the  destruction  of  the  city,  and  the  blow  it  would 
receive  from  the  Romans,  He  called  to  mind  the  blood  of  the 
saints  which  had  been,  and  should  yet  be,  shed  in  it.  Thou 
killedst  Esaias  who  was  sent  unto  thee,  and  stonedst  my 
servant  Jeremias ;  thou  dashedst  out  the  brains  of  Ezechiel 
by  dragging  him  over  stones;  how  shalt  thou  be  saved, 
which  wilt  not  suffer  a  physician  to  come  nigh  thee  ?  And 
He  said  not,  Didst  kill  and  stone ;  but,  Killest,  and  Stonest  ; 
that  is,  This  is  a  common  and  natural  practice  with  thee 
to  kill  and  stone  the  saints.  She  did  to  the  Apostles  the 
same  things  which  she  had  once  done  to  the  Prophets. 
CHRYS.  Having  thus  addressed  her,  and  spoken  of  her 
cruel  murders,  He  said,  as  justifying  Himself,  How  often 
would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together?  as  much 
as  to  say,  Notwithstanding,  these  thy  murders  have  not 
alienated  Me  from  thee,  but  I  would  have  taken  thee 
to  Me,  not  once  or  twice,  but  many  times.  The  strength 


VER.  37 — 39.  ST.  MATTHEW.  797 

of  His  affection  He  shews  by  the  comparison  of  a  hen.     AUG.  Aug. 
This  species  has  the  greatest  affection  for  its  brood,  insomuch  Ev^Lse 
that  when  they  are  sick  the  mother  sickens  also ;   and  what 
you  will  hardly  find  in  any  other  animal,  it  will  fight  against 
the  kite,  protecting  its  young  with  its  wings.     In  like  man 
ner  our  mother,  the  Wisdom  of  God,  sickened  as  it  were  in 
the  putting  on  the  flesh,  according  to  that  of  the  Apostle, 
The  weakness  of  God  is  stronger  than  men,  protects  our  i  Cor. 
weakness,  and  resists  the  Devil  that  he  should  not  make  us  ' 
his  prey.     ORIGEN  ;    He  calls  them  children  of  Jerusalem, 
just  as  we  call  each  generation  of  citizens  the  sons  of  the 
preceding  generation.     And   He  says,  How  often,  though 
it  is  well  known  that  once  only  did  He  teach  the  Jews  in 
the  body,  because  Christ  was  ever  present  in  Moses,  and 
in  the  Prophets,  and  in  the  Angels,  ministering  to  human 
salvation  in  every  generation.     Whosoever   shall  not  have 
been  gathered  in  by  Him  shall  be  judged,  as  though  he  had 
refused  to  be  gathered  in.     RABAN.  Let  heretics  then  cease  Raban. 
to  assign  to  Christ  a  beginning  from  the  Virgin ;  let  them non  occ* 
leave  off  to  preach  one  God  of  the  Law  and  another  of  the 
Prophets.     AUG.  Where  is  that  omnipotence,  by  the  which  Aug. 
He  did  whatsoever  pleased  Him  both  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  97°°  * 
if  He  would  have  gathered  the  children  of  Jerusalem  and  did 
not  ?     Was  it  not  that  she  would  not  that  her  children  should 
be  gathered  by  Him,  and  yet  He  did,  notwithstanding,  gather 
those  of  her  children  whom  He  would  ?     CHRYS.  Then  He 
threatens  the  punishment  of  which  they  were  ever  in  fear, 
to  wit,  the  overthrow  of  the  city  and  temple,  saying,  Behold, 
your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate.     PSEUDO-CHRYS.  As 
the  body,  when  the  spirit  departs,  first  becomes  cold,  and 
then   decays  and  decomposes;  so  also  your  temple,  when 
God's  Spirit  shall  have  withdrawn,  shall  be  first  filled  with 
strife  and  anarchy,  and  after  shall  come  to  ruin. 

ORIGEN  ;  In  like  manner  to  all  such  as  would  not  be  gathered 
under  His  wings  Christ  speaks  this  threat ;  Behold,  your  house 
is  left  unto  you  desolate;  i.  e.  your  soul  and  your  body.  But 
if  any  one  of  you  will  not  be  gathered  under  the  wings  of 
Christ,  from  the  very  time  when  he  shall  have  refused  to  be 
so  gathered,  (by  a  mental  rather  than  a  bodily  act,)  he  shall 
no  more  see  the  beauty  of  the  word,  till  repenting  of  his  evil 


798  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  MATTHEW.        CHAP.  XXIII. 

purpose  he  shall  say,  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  then  comes 
with  a  blessing  upon  a  man's  heart,  when  one  is  turned  to 
God.  JEROME  ;  /  say  unto  you,  Ye  shall  not  see  Me,  Sfc. 
That  is  to  say,  Unless  ye  shall  do  penitence,  and  shall  con 
fess  that  I  am  He  of  whom  the  Prophets  have  spoken,  the 
Son  of  the  Almighty  Father,  ye  shall  not  see  My  face.  Thus 
the  Jews  have  a  time  allowed  for  their  repentance.  Let  them 
confess  Him  blessed  who  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
and  they  shall  then  behold  Christ's  face.  CHRYS.  Otherwise ; 
In  this  He  covertly  alludes  to  His  second  coming,  when 
surely  they  shall  worship  Him.  Henceforth,  means  from 
the  time  of  His  crucifixion. 


CHAP.  XXIV. 

1.  AND  Jesus  went  out,  and    departed  from    the 
temple :  and  his  disciples  came  to  him  for  to  shew 
him  the  buildings  of  the  temple. 

2.  And    Jesus    said  unto    them,    See  ye    not   all 
these  things  ?  verily  I  say  unto  you,  There  shall  not 
be  left  here  one  stone  upon  another,  that  shall  not  be 
thrown  down. 

ORIGEN;  Christ,  when  He  had  foretold  all  that  should 
come  upon  Jerusalem,  went  forth  out  of  the  temple.  He,  who 
while  He  was  in  it,  had  upheld  the  temple  that  it  should  not 
fall.  And  so  each  man,  being  the  temple  of  God  by  reason 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelling  in  him,  is  himself  the  cause  of 
his  being  deserted,  that  Christ  should  depart  from  him.  It 
is  worthy  of  note  how  they  shew  Him  the  buildings  of  the  tem 
ple,  as  though  He  had  never  seen  them.  We  reply,  that  when 
Christ  had  foretold  the  destruction  that  should  come  upon  the 
temple,  His  disciples  were  amazed  at  the  thought  that  so 
magnificent  buildings  should  be  utterly  ruined,  and  therefore 
they  shew  them  to  Him  to  move  Him  to  pity,  that  He  would 
not  do  what  He  had  threatened.  And  because  the  constitu 
tion  of  human  nature  is  wonderful,  being  made  the  temple 
of  God,  the  disciples  and  the  rest  of  the  saints  confessing 
the  wonderful  working  of  God  in  respect  of  the  forming  of 
men,  intercede  before  the  face  of  Christ,  that  He  would  not 
forsake  the  human  race  for  their  sins.  RABAN.  The  historical 
sense  is  clear,  that  in  the  forty-second  year  after  the  Lord's 
passion,  the  city  and  temple  were  overthrown  under  the  Roman 
Emperors  Vespasian  and  Titus.  REMIG.  So  it  was  ordained 
of  God,  that  as  soon  as  the  light  of  grace  was  revealed,  the 
temple  with  its  ceremonies  should  be  taken  out  of  the  way, 
lest  any  weakling  in  the  faith,  beholding  all  the  things 


800  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

instituted  of  the  Lord  and  hallowed  by  the  Prophets  yet 
abiding,  might  be   gradually  drawn  away  from   the   purity 
Chrys.  of  the  faith  to  a  carnal  Judaism.     CHRYS.  How  means  He 
*    this,  that  one  stone  shall  not  be  left  upon  another  ?     Either 
as  conveying  the  notion  of  its  utter  overthrow ;  or  with  re 
spect  to  the  place  in  which  it  stood,  for  its  parts  were  broken 
up   to  its  very  foundations.     But  I  would  add,  that,  after 
the  fate  it  underwent,  the  most  captious  might  be  satisfied 
that  its  very  fragments  have  perished. 

JEROME;  Figuratively;  When  the  Lord  departed  from 
the  temple,  all  the  buildings  of  the  Law  and  the  structure 
of  the  Commandments  were  so  overthrown,  that  none  of  them 
could  be  fulfilled  by  the  Jews,  but,  the  Head  being  taken 
away,  all  the  parts  were  at  war  among  themselves.  ORIGEN  ; 
Every  man  also,  who,  by  taking  into  him  the  word  of  God, 
is  become  a  temple,  if  after  sinning  he  yet  retains  in  part 
the  traces  of  faith  and  religion,  his  temple  is  in  part  destroyed, 
and  in  part  standing.  But  he  who  after  sin  has  no  regard 
for  himself  is  gradually  alienated,  until  he  has  altogether 
forsaken  the  living  God,  and  so  one  stone  is  not  left  upon 
another  of  God's  commandments,  which  he  has  not  thrown 
down. 

3.  And  as  he  sat  upon  the  mount  of  Olives,  the 
disciples  came  unto  him  privately,   saying,  Tell  us, 
when  shall  these  things  be?    and  what  shall  be  the 
sign  of  thy  coming,  and  of  the  end  of  the  world  ? 

4.  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  Take 
heed  that  no  man  deceive  you. 

5.  For  many  shall  come  in  my  name,  saying,  I  am 
Christ ;  and  shall  deceive  many. 

REMIG.  The  Lord  continuing  His  walk  arrives  at  Mount 
Olivet,  having  by  the  way  foretold  the  destruction  of  the 
temple  to  those  disciples  who  had  shewn  and  commended 
the  buildings.  When  they  had  reached  the  Mount  they 
came  to  Him,  asking  Him  further  of  this.  CHRYS.  They 
asked  Him  in  private,  because  they  were  great  things  about 
which  they  were  going  to  ask  Him.  They  wished  to  know  the 


VER.  3 — 5.  ST.  MATTHEW.  801 

day  of  His  coming,  for  the  vehement  desire  they  had  to  see 
His  glory.  JEROME;  They  ask  Him  three  things.  First, 
The  time  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  saying,  Tell  us 
when  shall  these  things  be?  Secondly,  The  time  of  Christ's 
coming,  saying,  And  what  shall  be  the  sign  of  Thy  coming? 
Thirdly,  The  time  of  the  consummation  of  this  world,  saying, 
And  of  the  end  of  the  world?  CHRYS.  Luke  speaks  of  one 
enquiry,  that  concerning  Jerusalem,  as  though  the  disciples 
supposed  that  Christ's  coming  should  be  then,  and  the  end 
of  the  world  should  be  when  Jerusalem  should  be  destroyed. 
Whereas  Mark  does  not  state  them  all  to  have  asked  con 
cerning  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  but  Peter,  James,  John, 
and  Andrew,  as  having  more  bold  and  free  speech  with  Christ. 
ORIGEN  ;  I  think  Mount  Olivet  to  be  a  mystery  of  the  Church 
out  of  the  Gentiles.  REMIG.  For  Mount  Olivet  has  no  un 
fruitful  trees,  but  olives,  which  supply  light  to  dispel  darkness, 
which  give  rest  to  the  weary,  health  to  the  sick.  And  sitting 
on  Mount  Olivet  over  against  the  temple,  the  Lord  discourses 
of  its  destruction,  and  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  nation, 
that  even  by  His  choice  of  a  situation  He  might  shew,  that 
abiding  still  in  the  Church  He  condemns  the  pride  of  the 
wicked.  ORIGEN;  For  the  husbandman  dwelling  on  Mount 
Olivet  is  the  word  of  God  confirmed  in  the  Church,  that  is, 
Christ,  who  ever  grafts  the  branches  of  the  wild  olive  on  the 
good  olive  tree  of  the  Fathers.  They  who  have  confidence 
before  Christ,  seek  to  learn  the  sign  of  the  coming  of  Christ, 
and  of  the  consummation  of  this  world.  And  the  coming 
of  the  Word  into  the  "soul  is  of  two  sorts.  The  first  is  that 
foolish  preaching  conceming  Christ,  when  we  preach  that 
Christ  was  born  and  crucified;  the  second  its  coming 
in  perfect  men,  conceming  which  it  is  said,  We  speak  1  Cor.  2, 
wisdom  among  them  that  are  perfect;  and  to  this  second 
coming  is  added  the  end  of  the  world  in  the  perfect 
man  to  whom  the  world  is  crucified.  HILARY;  And 
because  the  questions  of  the  disciples  are  threefold,  they 
are  separated  by  different  times  and  meanings.  That  con 
cerning  the  destruction  of  the  city  is  first  answered,  and  is 
then  confirmed  by  truth  of  doctrine,  that  no  seducer  might 
prevail  with  the  ignorant.  CHRYS.  His  first  answer  is  neither 
concerning  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  nor  concerning 
VOL.  i.  3  F 


802  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

His  second  coining,  but  concerning  the  evils  which  were 
to  be  immediately  encountered.  JEROME  ;  One  of  them  of 
whom  He  speaks  was  Simon  of  Samaria,  of  whom  we  read 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  that  he  gave  himself  out  to  be 
the  great  Power,  leaving  these  things  written  in  his  works  * 
among  others,  I  am  the  Word  of  God,  I  am  the  Almighty, 
I  am  all  things  of  God.  The  Apostle  John  also  in  his 
i  John  Epistle,  Ye  have  heard  that  Antichrist  shall  come;  even 

o    10 

now  there  are  many  Antichrists.  I  suppose  all  heresiarchs 
to  be  Antichrists,  and  under  the  name  of  Christ  to  teach 
those  things  which  are  contraiy  to  Christ.  No  wonder  if 
we  see  some  led  away  by  such  teachers,  when  the  Lord  has 
said,  And  shall  deceive  many.  ORIGEN;  They  that  are 
Mat.  7,  deceived  are  many,  because  wide  is  the  gate  that  leadeth  to 
destruction,  and  many  there  be  which  go  in  thereat.  This 
one  thing  is  enough  to  detect  the  Antichrists  and  seducers 
that  they  shall  say,  /  am  Christ,  which  Christ  Himself  is 
no  where  read  to  have  said :  for  the  works  of  God,  and  the 
word  which  He  taught,  and  His  power,  were  enough  to  pro 
duce  belief  that  He  is  Christ.  For  every  discourse  which 
professes  to  expound  Scripture  faithfully,  and  has  not  the 
truth,  is  Antichrist.  For  the  truth  is  Christ,  that  which  feigns 
itself  to  be  the  truth  is  Antichrist.  So  also  all  virtues  are 
Christ,  all  that  feigns  itself  to  be  virtue  is  Antichrist;  for 
Christ  has  in  Himself  in  truth  all  manner  of  good  for  the 
edification  of  men,  but  the  devil  has  forged  resemblances 
of  the  same  for  the  deceiving  of  the  saints.  We  have  need 
therefore  of  God  to  help  us,  that  none  deceive  us,  neither 
word  nor  power.  It  is  a  bad  thing  to  find  any  one  erring 
in  his  course  of  life ;  but  I  esteem  it  much  worse  not  to 
think  according  to  the  most  true  rule  of  Scripture. 

6.  And  ye  shall  hear  of  wars  and  rumours  of  wars  : 
see  that  ye  be  not  troubled :  for  all  these  things  must 
come  to  pass,  but  the  end  is  not  yet. 


»"  The  followers  of  Simon  and  Cleo-  Const.  The  author  of  the  Treatise 
bius  compose  books  in  the  name  of  De  Divinis  Nomin.  also  mentions  "  Si- 
Christ  and  His  disciples,  which  they  mon's  Controversial  Discourses."  Fa/ 
circulate,  and  so  deceive  men."  Apostol.  larsi. 


VKK.  6—8.  ST.  MATTHEW.  803 

7.  For  nation  shall  rise  against  nation,  and  king 
dom  against  kingdom :    and  there  shall  be  famines, 
and  pestilences,  and  earthquakes,  in  divers  places. 

8.  All  these  are  the  beginning  of  sorrows. 

AUG.  To  this  enquiry  of  the  disciples  the  Lord  makes  Aug. 
answer,  declaring  all  things  which  were  to  come  to  pass  from  25. 
that  time  forwards,  whether  relating  to  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  which  had  given  occasion  to  their  enquiry  ;  or 
to  His  coming  through  the  Church,  in  which  He  ceases 
not  to  come  to  the  end  of  time ;  for  He  is  acknowledged  as 
coming  among  His  own,  while  new  members  are  daily  born 
to  Him;  or  relating  to  the  end  itself  when  He  shall  appear 
to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead.  When  then  He  describes 
the  signs  which  shall  attend  these  three  events,  we  must 
carefully  consider  which  signs  belong  to  which  events,  lest 
perchance  we  refer  to  one  that  which  belongs  to  another. 
CHRYS.  Here  He  speaks  of  the  battles  which  should  be 
fought  at  Jerusalem;  when  He  says,  Ye  shall  hear  wars, 
and  rumours  of  wars.  ORIGEN  ;  To  hear  the  shouts  raised 
in  the  battles,  is  to  hear  wars  ;  to  hear  rumours  of  wars,  is 
to  hear  accounts  of  wars  waged  afar  off.  CHRYS.  And  because 
this  might  alarm  the  disciples,  He  continues,  See  that  ye  be 
not  troubled.  And  because  they  supposed  that  the  end  of 
the  world  would  follow  immediately  after  the  war  in  which 
Jerusalem  should  be  destroyed,  He  corrects  their  suspi 
cions  concerning  this,  TJiese  t/iings  must  come  to  pass,  but 
the  end  is  not  yet.  JEROME  ;  That  is,  Think  not  that  the 
day  of  judgment  is  at  hand,  but  that  it  is  reserved  against 
another  time  ;  the  sign  of  which  is  plainly  put  in  what  follows, 
For  nation,  shall  rise  against -nation,  and  kingdom  against 
kingdom.  RABAN.b  Or,  this  is  a  warning  to  the  Apostles  not 
to  flee  from  Jerusalem  and  Judaea  in  terror  of  these  things, 
when  they  should  begin  to  come  upon  them ;  because  the 
end  was  not  immediately,  but  the  desolation  of  the  province, 
and  the  destruction  of  the  city  and  temple  should  not  come 
till  the  fortieth  year.  And  we  know  that  most  grievous  woes, 

b  From  this  to  v.  36.  the  commentary     edition.  See  Pref. 
of  Rabanus  is  wanting  in  the  printed 

3  F  2 


804  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

which  spread  over  the  whole  province,  fell  out  to  the  very 
letter.  CHRYS.  And  to  shew  that  He  also  should  fight 
against  the  Jews,  He  tells  them  not  only  of  wars,  but  of 
calamities  inflicted  by  Providence,  And  there  shall  be  pesti 
lences,  andfamines,  and  earthquakes  in  divers  places.  RABAN. 
Nation  shall  rise  against  nation,  shews  the  disquietude  of 
men's  minds ;  pestilences,  the  affliction  of  their  bodies ; 
famines,  the  barrenness  of  the  soil ;  earthquakes  in  divers 
places,  wrath  from  heaven  above.  CHRYS.  And  these  things 
shall  not  happen  according  to  the  order  of  nature  before 
established  among  men,  but  shall  come  of  wrath  from  heaven, 
and  therefore  He  said  not  that  they  should  come  only,  or 
come  suddenly,  but  adds  significantly,  Tliese  all  are  the 
beginnings  of  troubles,  that  is,  of  the  Jewish  troubles.  ORIGEN  ; 
Or  otherwise ;  As  the  body  sickens  before  the  death  of  the 
man,  so  it  must  needs  be  that  before  the  consummation  of 
this  world  the  earth  should  be  shaken,  as  though  it  were 
palsied,  with  frequent  earthquakes,  the  air  should  gather  a 
deadly  quality  and  become  pestilential,  and  that  the  vital 
energy  of  the  soil  should  fail,  and  its  fruits  wither.  And  by 
consequence  of  this  scarcity,  men  are  stirred  up  to  robbery 
and  war.  But  because  war  and  strife  arise  sometimes  from 
covetousness,  and  sometimes  from  desire  of  power  and  empty 
glory,  of  these  which  shall  happen  before  the  end  of  the 
world  a  yet  deeper  cause  shall  be  assignable.  For  as  Christ's 
coming  brought  through  His  divine  power  peace  to  divers 
nations,  so  it  shall  be  on  the  other  hand,  that  when  iniquity 
shall  abound,  the  love  of  many  shall  wax  cold,  and  God 
and  His  Christ  shall  desert  them ;  wars  shall  be  again  when 
actions  which  beget  wars  are  not  hindered  by  holiness  ;  and 
hostile  powers  when  they  are  not  restrained  by  the  Saints 
and  by  Christ  shall  work  unchecked  in  the  hearts  of  men, 
stirring  up  nation  against  nation,  and  kingdom  against  king 
dom.  But  if,  as  some  will  have  it,  famine  and  pestilence 
are  from  the  Angels  of  Satan,  these  shall  then  gather  might 
from  opposite  powers,  when  the  salt  of  the  earth,  and  the 
lights  of  the  world,  Christ's  disciples,  shall  be  no  longer, 
1  Kings  Destroying  those  things  which  the  malice  of  daemons  hatches. 
Jer.  14.  Ofttimes  in  Israel  famines  and  pestilences  were  caused  by 
JamesS,  ^  an(j  removed  by  the  prayers  of  the  Saints.  Well  is  that 


VER.  9 14.  ST.  MATTHEW.  805 

said,  In  dicers  places,  for  God  will  not  destroy  the  whole 
race  of  men  at  once,  but  judging  them  in  portions,  He  gives 
opportunity  of  repentance.  But  if  some  stop  be  not  put  to 
these  evils  in  their  commencement,  they  will  progress  to 
worse,  as  it  follows,  These  all  are  the  beginnings  of  sorrows, 
that  is,  sorrows  common  to  the  whole  world,  and  those  which 
are  to  come  upon  the  wicked  who  shall  be  tormented  in  most 
sharp  pains. 

JEROME;  Figuratively;  Kingdom  rising  against  kingdom 
and  pestilence  of  that  discourse  which  spreadeth  as  a 
plague-spot,  and  hunger  of  hearing  the  word  of  God,  and 
commotion  throughout  the  earth,  and  separation  from  the 
true  faith,  may  be  rather  understood  of  the  heretics,  who 
fighting  among  themselves  give  the  victory  to  the  Church. 
ORIGEN;  This  must  come  to  pass  before  we  can  see  the 
perfection  of  that  wisdom  which  is  in  Christ;  but  not  yet 
shall  be  that  end  which  we  seek,  for  a  peaceful  end  is  far 
from  those  men.  JEROME  ;  These  all  are  the  beginnings 
of  sorrows,  is  better  understood  of  pains  of  labour,  as  it  were 
the  conception  of  the  coming  of  Antichrist,  and  not  of  the 
birth. 

9.  Then  shall  they  deliver  you  up  to  be  afflicted, 
and  shall  kill  you  :  and  ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  nations 
for  my  name's  sake. 

10.  And  then  shall  many  be   offended,  and  shall 
betray  one  another,  and  shall  hate  one  another. 

11.  And  many  false  prophets  shall  rise,  and  shall 
deceive  many. 

12.  And   because  iniquity  shall  abound,  the  love 
of  many  shall  wax  cold. 

13.  But  he  that  shall   endure   unto  the  end,  the 
same  shall  be  saved. 

14.  And    this    Gospel    of  the   kingdom    shall    be 
preached   in    all    the   world   for  a  witness    unto    all 
nations  ;  and  then  shall  the  end  come. 

RABAN.  For  what  desert  so  many  evils  are  to  be  brought 


806  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

upon  Jerusalem,  and  the  whole  Jewish  province  the  Lord 
shews,  when  He  adds,  Then  shall  they  deliver  you  up,  Sfc. 
CHRYS.  Or  otherwise ;  The  disciples  when  they  heard  these 
things  which  were  spoken  of  Jerusalem  might  suppose  that 
they  should  be  beyond  reach  of  harm,  as  though  what  they 
now  heard  was  the  sufferings  of  others,  while  they  themselves 
should  meet  with  nothing  but  prosperous  times,  He  there 
fore  announces  the  grievous  things  which  should  befal  them, 
putting  them  in  fear  for  themselves.     First  He  had  bid  them 
be  on  their  guard  against  the  arts  of  false  teachers,  He  now 
foretels  to  them  the  violence  of  tyrants.     In  good  season  He 
thus  introduces  their  own  woes,  as  here  they  will  receive 
consolation  from  the  common  calamities ;   and  He  held  out 
to  them  not  this  comfort  only,  but  also  that  of  the  cause 
for  which  they  should  suffer,  shewing  that  it  was  for  His 
name's  sake,  And  ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  men  for  my  name's 
sake.     ORIGEN  ;    But  how  should  the  people  of  Christ  be 
hated  by  the  nations  who  dwelt  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth  ?     But  one  may  perhaps  say,  that  in  this  place  all  is 
put  hyperbolic  ally  for  many.     But  this  that  He  says,  Then 
shall  they  deliver  you,  presents  some  difficulty;   for  before 
these  things   the    Christians  were   delivered  to   tribulation. 
To  this  it  may  be  answered,  that  at  that  time  the  Christians 
shall  be  more  delivered  to  tribulation  than  ever.     And  per 
sons  in  any  misfortune  love  to  examine  into  the  origin  of 
them,  and  to  talk  about  them.     Hence  when  the  worship 
of  the  Gods  shall  be  almost  deserted  by  reason  of  the  multi 
tude  of  Christians,  it  will  be  said  that  that  is  the  cause  of  the 
wars,  and  famines,  and  pestilences ;   and  of  the  earthquakes 
also  they  will  say  that  the  Christians  are  the  cause,  whence 
the  persecution   of  the  Churches.     CHRYS.  Having  named 
two  sources  of  opposition,  that  from  seducers,  and  that  from 
enemies,  He  adds  a  third,  that  from  false  brethren ;    And 
then  shall  many  be  offended,  and  shall  betray  one  another, 
and  shall  hate  one  another.     See  Paul  bewailing  these  same 
2  Cor.    things,    Without  were  fightings,  within   were  fears ;   and 
?>6-      in  another  place;   In  perils  among  false  brethren,  of  whom 
11,26.  he  says,  Such  are  false  Apostles,  deceitful  workers.     REMIG. 
Yl  13'     As  the   capture   of  Jerusalem   approached,  many  rose  up, 
calling   themselves   Christians,   and   deceived   many ;    such 


VER.  9 14.  ST.  MATTHEW.  807 

Paul  calls  false  brethren,  John  Antichrists.     HILARY  ;  Such 
was  Nicolaus,  one  of  the  seven   deacons,  who  led  astray 
many  by  his  pretences.      And   Simon  Magus  who,  armed 
with   diabolic  works   and   words,  perverted  many  by  false 
miracles.      CHRYS.  And  He  adds,  what  is  still  more  cruel, 
that    such    false    Prophets    shall    have    no    alleviation    in 
charity;    Because  iniquity  shall  abound,  the  love  of  many 
shall  wax  cold.     REMIG.   That  is,  true  love  towards  God 
and  our  neighbour,  in  proportion  as  each  surrenders  himself 
to  iniquity,  in  that  proportion  will  the  flame  of  charity  in 
his  heart  be   extinguished.     JEROME  ;    Observe,  He   says, 
the  love  of  many,  not  '  of  all,'  for  in  the  Apostles,  and  those 
like  them,  love  would  continue,  as  Paul  speaks,   Who  shall  Rom.  8, 
separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ  ?     REMIG.    Whoso  shall 35' 
endure  unto  the  end,  i.  e.  to  the  end  of  his  life  ;    for  whoso 
to  the  end  of  his  life  shall  persevere  in  the  confession  of  the 
name  of  Christ,  and  in  love,  he  shall  be  saved.     CHRYS. 
Then  that  they  should  not  say,  How  then  shall  we  live  among 
so  many  evils?     He  promises  not  only  that  they  should  live, 
but  that  they  should  teach  every  where.     And  this  Gospel 
of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  all  the  world.     REMIG. 
For  the  Lord  knew  that  the  hearts  of  the  disciples  would 
be  made  sad  by  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  overthrow 
of  their   nation,  and    He   therefore    comforts    them  with  a 
promise  that  more  of  the  Gentiles  should  believe  than  of 
the  Jews  should  perish.     CHRYS.  That  before  the  taking  of 
Jerusalem  the  Gospel  was  preached  every  where,  hear  what 
Paul  says,  Their  sound  is  gone  out  into  all  the  earth ;    and  Rom. 
see  himself  travelling  from  Jerusalem  into   Spain.     And  if    ' 
one  had  so  large  a  province,  think  how  much  all  must  have 
done.     Whence  writing  to   certain,  he  says  of  the  Gospel, 
It  bears  fruit,  and  increases  in  every  creature  under  heaven.  Col.1,6. 
And  this  is  the  strongest  proof  of  Christ's  power,  that  in 
thirty  years  or  a  little  more,  the  word  of  the  Gospel  filled 
the  ends  of  the  world.     Though  the  Gospel  was  preached 
every  where,  yet  all  did  not  believe,  whence  He  adds,  For 
a  witness  unto  all  nations,  in  accusation,  that  is,  of  such 
as  believe  not,  they  who  have  believed  bearing  witness  against 
them  that  believed  not,  and  condemning  them.     And  in  fit 
season  did  Jerusalem  fall,  namely,  after  the  Gospel  had  been 
preached  throughout   the  world;    as  it  follows,  And   then 


808  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

shall  the  consummation  come,  i.  e.  the  end  of  Jerusalem. 
For  they  who  have  seen  Christ's  power  shining  forth  every 
where,  and  in  brief  space  spread  over  the  whole  world,  what 
mercy  did  they  deserve  when  they  continued  still  in  ingrati 
tude?  REMIG.  But  the  whole  passage  might  be  referred 
to  the  end  of  the  world.  For  then  shall  many  be  offended, 
and  depart  from  the  faith,  when  they  see  the  numbers  and 
wealth  of  the  wicked,  and  the  miracles  of  Antichrist,  and 
they  shall  persecute  their  brethren ;  and  Antichrist  shall 
send  false  Prophets,  who  shall  deceive  many;  iniquity  shall 
abound,  because  the  number  of  the  wicked  shall  be  increased; 
and  love  shall  wax  cold,  because  the  number  of  the  good 
shall  diminish.  JEROME  ;  And  the  sign  of  the  Lord's  second 
coining  is,  that  the  Gospel  shall  be  preached  in  all  the 
world,  so  that  all  may  be  without  excuse.  ORIGEN;  And 
that,  Ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  men  for  my  name's  sake,  might 
be  then  applied  thus ;  That  indeed  at  this  time  all  nations 
are  conspired  together  against  the  Christians,  but  that  when 
the  things  foretold  by  Christ  shall  have  come  to  pass,  then 
there  shall  be  persecutions,  not  as  before  in  places,  but  every 
Aug.  where  against  the  people  of  God.  AUG.  But  that  this  preach- 
46^  '  mS  ^te  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  in  all  the  world  was  accom 
plished  by  the  Apostles,  we  have  not  any  certain  evidence, 
to  prove.  There  are  numberless  barbarous  nations  in  Africa, 
among  whom  the  Gospel  is  not  even  yet  preached,  as  it  is  easy 
to  learn  from  the  prisoners  who  are  brought  from  thence. 
But  it  cannot  be  said  that  these  have  no  part  in  the  promise 
of  God.  For  God  promised  with  an  oath  not  the  Romans 
only,  but  all  nations  to  the  seed  of  Abraham.  But  in  what 
ever  nation  there  is  yet  no  Church  established,  it  must  needs 
be  that  there  should  be  one,  not  that  all  the  people  should 
believe;  for  how  then  should  that  be  fulfilled,  Ye  shall  be 
hated  of  all  nations  for  my  name's  sake,  unless  there  be  in 
all  nations  those  who  hate  and  those  who  are  hated?  That 
preaching  therefore  was  not  accomplished  by  the  Apostles, 
while  as  yet  there  were  nations  among  whom  it  had  not 
begun  to  be  fulfilled.  The  words  of  the  Apostle  also,  Their 
sound  hath  gone  out  into  all  the  world,  though  expressed 
as  of  time  past,  are  meant  to  apply  to  something  future,  not 
Ps.  19,  yet  completed ;  as  the  Prophet,  whose  words  he  quotes, 
said  that  the  Gospel  bore  fruit  and  grew  in  the  whole  world} 


VER.  9 — 14.  ST.  MATTHEW.  809 

to  shew  thereby  to  what  extent  its  growth  should  come. 
If  then  we  know  not  when  it  shall  be  that  the  whole  world 
shall  be  filled  with  the  Gospel,  undoubtedly  we  know  not 
when  the  end  shall  be ;  but  it  shall  not  be  before  such  time. 
ORIGEN  ;  When  every  .nation  shall  have  heard  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel,  then  shall  come  the  end  of  the  world.  For 
at  this  time  there  are  many  nations,  not  of  barbarians  only, 
but  of  our  own,  who  have  not  yet  heard  the  word  of  Chris 
tianity.  GLOSS.  c  But  it  is  possible  to  maintain  both  appli-Gloss- 

•^  non  occ. 

cations  of  the  passage,  if  only  we  will  take  this  diffusion  of 
Gospel  preaching  in  a  double  sense.  If  we  understand  it 
of  fruit  produced  by  the  preaching,  and  the  foundation  in 
every  nation  of  a  Church  of  believers  in  Christ,  as  Augustine 
(in  the  passage  above  quoted)  expounds  it,  then  it  is  a  sign 
which  ought  to  precede  the  end  of  the  world,  and  which  did 
not  precede  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  But  if  we  under 
stand  it  of  the  fame  of  their  preaching,  then  it  was  accomplished 
before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  when  Christ's  disciples 
had  been  dispersed  over  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth.  Whence 
Jerome  says,  I  do  not  suppose  that  there  remained  any  nation  Hieron. 
which  knew  not  the  name  of  Christ;  for  where  preacher  hadin 
never  been,  some  notion  of  the  faith  must  have  been  commu 
nicated  by  neighbouring  nations. 

ORIG-EN  ;  Morally ;  He  who  shall  see  that  glorious 
second  coming  of  the  word  of  God  into  his  soul,  must  needs 
suffer  in  proportion  to  the  measure  of  his  proficiency  assaults 
of  opposing  influences,  and  Christ  in  him  must  be  hated  by 
all,  not  only  by  the  nations  literally  understood,  but  by  the 
nations  of  spiritual  vices.  And  in  such  enquiries  there  will 
be  few  who  shall  reach  the  truth  with  any  fulness,  the  more 
part  shall  be  offended  and  fall  therefrom,  betraying  and 
accusing  one  another  because  of  their  disagreement  respecting 
doctrines,  which  shall  give  rise  to  a  mutual  hatred.  Also 
there  shall  be  many  setting  forth  unsound  words  concerning 
things  to  come,  and  interpreting  the  Prophets  in  a  manner 
in  which  they  ought  not ;  these  are  the  false  Prophets  who 
shall  deceive  many,  and  who  shall  cause  to  wax  cold  that 
fervour  of  love  which  was  before  in  the  simplicity  of  the 

e  This  Gloss  appears  to  be  a  note  of    this  to  the  taking  of  Jerusalem,  cf.  Iren 
S.   Thomas,   in    confirmation    of    the     Hseres.  i.  2  and  3. 
view  of  S.   Chrysostom,   which  refers 


810  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

faith.  But  he  who  can  abide  firmly  in  the  Apostolic  tradition, 
he  shall  be  saved ;  and  the  Gospel  being  preached  to  the 
minds  of  all  shall  be  for  a  testimony  to  all  nations,  that  is, 
to  all  the  unbelieving  thoughts  of  the  soul. 

15.  When  ye  therefore  shall  see  the  abomination 
of  desolation,  spoken  of  by  Daniel  the  prophet,  stand 
in  the  holy  place,  (whoso  readeth,  let  him  understand:) 

16.  Then  let  them  which  be  in  Judaea  flee  into  the 
mountains : 

17.  Let  him  which  is  on  the  housetop  not  come 
down  to  take  any  thing  out  of  his  house. 

18.  Neither  let  him  which  is  in  the  field  return 
back  to  take  his  clothes. 

1 9.  And  woe  unto  them  that  are  with  child,  and 
to  them  that  give  suck  in  those  days ! 

20.  But  pray  ye  that  your  flight  be  not  in  the 
winter,  neither  on  the  sabbath  day : 

21.  For  then   shall   be  great  tribulation,  such  as 
was  not  since  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  this  time, 
no,  nor  ever  shall  be. 

22.  And  except  those  days  should  be  shortened, 
there  should  no  flesh  be  saved  :  but  for  the  elect's  sake 
those  days  shall  be  shortened. 

CHRYS.  As  above  He  had  obscurely  intimated  the  end  of 
Jerusalem ;  He  now  proceeds  to  a  more  plain  announcement 
of  it,  citing  a  prophecy  which  should  make  them  believe  it. 
JEROME;   That,  Let  him  that  readeth  understand,  is  said  to 
call  us  to  the  mystic  understanding  of  the  place.     What  we 
Dan.  9,  read  in  Daniel  is  this ;    And  in  the  midst  of  the  week  the 
LXX!  sacrifice  and  the  oblation  shall  be  taken  away,  and  in  the 
temple  shall  be  the  abomination  of  desolations  until  the  con 
summation  of  the  time,  and  consummation  shall  be  given 
Aug.     upon  the  desolate.     AUG.  Luke,  in  order  to  shew  that  the 
|jp<199<  abomination  of  desolation  foretold  by  Daniel  had  reference 
to  the  time  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  repeats  these  words 


VER.   15 — 22.  ST.  MATTHEW.  811 

of  our  Lord,  Wlien  ye  shall  see  Jerusalem  encompassed  by  Luke2i, 
armies,  then  know  ye  that  its  desolation  draweth  nigh. 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Whence  I  think  that  by  the  abomination  of 
desolation,  He  means  the  army  by  which  the  city  of  the  holy 
Jerusalem  was  desolated.  JEROME  ;  Or  it  may  be  understood 
of  the  statue  of  Caesar,  which  Pilate  set  up  in  the  temple ; 
or  of  the  equestrian  statue  of  Adrian,  which  stood  to  the 
present  time  in  the  very  Holy  of  Holies.  For,  according  to 
the  Old  Scripture,  an  idol  is  called  '  abomination  ;'  of  desola 
tion  is  added,  because  the  idol  was  set  up  in  the  desolated 
and  deserted  temple.  CHRYS.  Or  because  he  who  desolated 
the  city  and  the  temple  placed  his  statue  there.  He  says, 
Wlien  ye  shall  see,  because  these  things  were  to  happen 
while  some  of  them  were  yet  alive.  Wherein  admire  Christ's 
power,  and  the  courage  of  the  disciples,  who  preached  through 
those  times  in  which  all  things  Jewish  were  the  object  of 
attack.  The  Apostles,  being  Jews,  introduced  new  laws  in 
opposition  to  the  Roman  authority.  The  Romans  conquered 
countless  thousands  of  Jews,  but  could  not  overcome  twelve 
unarmed  unprotected  men.  But  because  it  had  often  hap-  Chrys. 
pened  to  the  Jews  to  be  recovered  in  very  desperate  circum-  lx°™'. 
stances,  as  in  the  times  of  Sennacherib  and  Antiochus,  that 
no  man  might  look  for  any  such  event  now,  He  gave  com 
mand  to  His  disciples  to  fly,  saying,  Then  let  them  which 
are  in  Jud&a  flee  to  the  mountains.  REMIG.  And  this 
we  know  was  so  done  when  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  drew  near ; 
for  on  the  approach  of  the  Roman  army,  all  the  Christians 
in  the  province,  warned,  as  ecclesiastical  history  tells  us,  Euseb. 
miraculously  from  heaven,  withdrew,  and  passing  the  Jordan, .?'  g" 
took  refuge  in  the  city  of  Pella ;  and  under  the  protection  of 
that  King  Agrippa,  of  whom  we  read  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  they  continued  some  time;  but  Agrippa  himself, 
with  the  Jews  whom  he  governed,  was  subjected  to  the 
dominion  of  the  Romans.  CHRYS.  Then  to  shew  how  inevi 
table  the  evils  that  should  come  upon  the  Jews,  and  how 
infinite  their  calamity,  He  adds,  And  let  him  which  is  on 
the  housetop,  not  come  down  to  take  any  thing  out  of  his 
house,  for  it  was  better  to  be  saved,  and  to  lose  his  clothes, 
than  to  put  on  a  garment  and  perish ;  and  of  him  who  is 
in  the  field  He  says  the  same.  For  if  those  who  are  in  the 


812  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

city  fly  from  it,  little  need  is  there  for  those  who  are  abroad 
to  return  to  the  city.  But  it  is  easy  to  despise  money,  and 
not  hard  to  provide  other  raiment;  but  how  can  one  avoid 
natural  circumstances?  How  can  a  woman  with  child  be 
made  active  for  flight,  or  how  can  she  that  gives  suck  desert 
the  child  she  has  brought  forth  ?  IVoe,  therefore,  to  them  that 
are  with  child,  and  to  them  that  give  suck  in  those  days; 
to  the  one,  because  they  are  encumbered,  and  cannot  easily 
fly,  bearing  about  the  burden  of  the  womb;  to  the  other, 
because  they  are  held  by  compassion  for  their  children,  and 
cannot  save  with  them  those  whom  they  are  suckling.  ORIGEN  ; 
Or  because  that  will  not  be  a  time  of  shewing  pity,  neither 
upon  them  who  are  with  child,  nor  upon  them  who  are 
suckling,  nor  upon  their  infants.  And  as  speaking  to  Jews 
who  thought  they  might  travel  no  more  upon  the  sabbath 
than  a  sabbath-day's  journey,  He  adds,  But  pray  ye  that 
your  flight  be  not  in  the  winter,  neither  on  the  sabbath. 
JEROME;  Because  in  the  one  the  severity  of  the  cold  pre 
vents  your  flight  to  the  deserts,  and  your  lurking  in  moun 
tains  and  wilds  ;  in  the  other,  you  must  either  transgress  the 
Law,  if  you  will  fly,  or  encounter  instant  death  if  you  will 
stay.  CHRYS.  Note  how  this  speech  is  directed  against 
the  Jews;  for  when  these  things  were  done  by  Vespasian, 
the  Apostles  could  neither  observe  the  Sabbath  nor  fly, 
seeing  most  of  them  were  already  dead,  and  those  who 
survived  were  living  in  distant  countries.  And  why  they 
should  pray  for  this  He  adds  a  reason,  For  then  shall  be 
great  tribulation,  such  as  was  not  since  the  beginning  of 
Aug.  the  world  to  this  time,  no,  nor  shall  be.  AUG.  In  Luke  it 
so.  is  thus  read,  There  shall  be  great  distress  upon  the  earth,  and 


wrath  upon  this  people,  and  they  shall  fall  by  the  edge  of 
the  sword,  and  shall  be  led  away  captive  into  all  nations. 
B.  J.vii.  And  so  Josephus,  who  wrote  the  Jewish  Histoiy,  relates  evils 
so  great  happening  to  this  people  as  to  seem  hardly  credible. 
Whence  it  was  not  unreasonably  said,  that  such  tribulation 
had  never  been  from  the  beginning  of  creation,  nor  should 
be;  for  though  in  the  time  of  Antichrist  shall  be  such,  or 
perhaps  greater;  yet  to  the  Jews,  of  whom  we  must  under 
stand  this,  such  shall  never  more  befal.  For  if  they  shall  be 
the  first  and  the  chief  to  receive  Antichrist,  they  will  then 


VER.  15 — 22.  ST.  MATTHEW.  813 

rather  inflict  than  suffer  tribulation.     CHRYS.  I  ask  the  Jews, 
whence  canie  upon  them  so  grievous  wrath  from  heaven  more 
woful  than  all  that  had  come  upon  them  before  ?  Plainly  it  was 
because  of  the  desperate  crime1  and  the  denial  of  the  Cross.  lTai(t4- 
But  He  shews  that  they  deserved  still  heavier  punishment  than  f"t 
they  received,  when  He  adds,  And  except  those  days  should  be 
shortened,  there  should  no  flesh  be  saved ;  that  is,  If  the  siege 
by  the  Romans  should  be  continued  longer,  all  the  Jews 
would  perish  ;   for  by  all  Jlesh,  He  means  all  the  Jewish 
nation,  those  within  and    those  without ;    for    the    Romans 
were  at  war  not  only   with  those  in   Judaea,  but  with   the 
whole  race  wherever  dispersed.     AUG.  Indeed  some  persons 
seem  to  me  not  unfitly  to  understand  by  these  days  the  evils 
themselves,  as  in  other  places  of  divine  Scripture  evil  days 
are  spoken  of;   not  that  the  days  themselves  are  evil,  but  the 
things  that  are   done  on  them.     And  they  are  said  to  be 
shortened,  because  they  are  less  felt,  God  giving  us  endur 
ance  ;   so  that  even  though  grievous,  they  are  felt  as  short. 
CHRYS.  But  that  the  Jews  should  not  say  that  these  evils 
came  because  of  the  preaching  and  the  disciples  of  Christ, 
He  shews  them  that  had  it  not  been  for  His  disciples,  they 
would  have  totally  perished,  but  for  the  elect's  sake  those 
days  shall  be  shortened.     AUG.  For  we  ought  not  to  doubt 
that  when  Jerusalem  was  overthrown,  there  were  among  that 
people  elect  of  God  who  had  believed  out  of  the  circum 
cision,  or  would  have  believed,  elect  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world,  for  whose  sake  those  days  should  be  shortened, 
and  their  evils  made  endurable.     Some  there  are  who  sup 
pose  that  the  days  will  be  shortened  by  a  more  rapid  motion 
of  the  sun,  as  the  day  was  made  longer  on  the  prayer  of  Jesus 
Naue.      JEROME;    Not  remembering  that  which  is  written. 
The  day  continues  according  to  thy  ordinances.     We  mustps.  119, 
understand  it  of  their  being  shortened  not  in  measure,  but  in  91* 
number,  lest   the  faith   of  believers    should   be  shaken   by 
lengthened  affliction.     AUG.  For  let  us  not  suppose  that  the  Aug. 
computation  of  Daniel's  weeks  was  interfered  with  by  thisuWsuP- 
shortening  of  those  days,  or  that  they  were  not  already  at 
that  time  complete,  but  had  to  be  completed  afterwards  in 
the  end  of  all  things,  for  Luke  most  plainly  testifies  that  the 
prophecy  of  Daniel   was    accomplished    at   the   time  when 


814  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

Jerusalem  was  overthrown.  CHRYS.  Observe  this  economy 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  this,  that  John  wrote  nothing  of  all  this, 
that  he  might  not  seem  to  be  writing  a  history  after  the  event ; 
for  he  survived  sometime  the  taking  of  Jerusalem.  But  these 
who  died  before  it,  and  saw  nothing  of  it,  these  write  it,  that 
the  power  of  prophecy  may  shine  manifestly  forth.  HILARY; 
Or  otherwise;  It  is  a  sign  of  His  future  coming  that  the  Lord 
gives,  when  He  says,  When  ye  shall  see  the  abomination, 
For  the  Prophet  spoke  this  of  the  times  of  Antichrist ;  and 
he  calls  abomination  that  which  coming  against  God  claims 
to  itself  the  honour  of  God.  It  is  the  abomination  of  deso 
lation,  because  it  will  desolate  the  earth  with  wars  and 
slaughter;  and  it  is  admitted  by  the  Jews,  and  set  up  in 
the  holy  place,  that  where  God  had  been  invoked  by  the 
prayers  of  the  saints,  into  that  same  place  admitted  by  the 
unbelievers  it  might  be  adored  with  the  worship  of  God. 
And  because  this  error  will  be  peculiar  to  the  Jews,  that 
having  rejected  the  truth  they  should  adopt  a  lie,  He  warns 
them  to  leave  Judaea,  and  flee  to  the  mountains,  that  no 
pollution  or  infection  might  be  gathered  by  admixture  with 
a  people  who  should  believe  on  Antichrist.  That  He  says, 
Let  him  which  is  on  the  housetop  not  come  down  to  take 
ang  thing  out  of  his  house,  is  thus  understood.  The  roof 
is  the  highest  part  of  the  house,  the  summit  and  perfection 
of  the  whole  building.  He  then  who  stands  on  the  top  of 
his  house,  i.  e.  in  the  perfection  of  his  heart,  aloft  in  the 
regeneration  of  a  new  spirit,  ought  not  to  come  down  to  the 
lower  desire  of  things  of  the  world.  Neither  let  him  which 
is  in  the  field  return  back  to  take  his  coat ;  i.  e.  He  that 
has  attained  to  obedience  to  the  command,  let  him  not  return 
back  to  his  former  cares,  to  take  on  him  again  the  coat  of 
his  former  sins  in  which  he  once  was  clothed.  AUG.  For 
'in  tribulations  we  must  beware  of  coming  down  from  the 
spiritual  heights,  and  yielding  ourselves  to  the  carnal  life ; 
or  of  failing  and  looking  behind  us,  after  having  made  some 
progress  forwards.  HILARY  ;  That  which  is  said,  Woe  unto 
them  that  are  with  child,  and  to  them  that  give  suck,  is  not 
to  be  taken  literally  as  an  admonition  to  women  pregnant, 
but  as  a  description  of  souls  burdened  with  the  weight  of  sin, 
that  neither  in  the  house,  nor  in  the  field,  may  escape  the 


VER.  15 — 22.  ST.  MATTHEW.  815 

storm  of  the  wrath  that  is  in  store  for  them.     Woe  also  to 
those  that  are  being  suckled;   the  weak  souls,  that  is,  who 
are  being  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  God  as  by  milk,  to 
whom  it  shall  be  woe,  because  they  are  too  laden  to  fly,  and 
too  inexperienced  to  resist  Antichrist,  having  neither  escaped 
sin,  nor  partaken  of  the  food  of  true  bread.     PsEUDO-Aue.  Or,  Aug. 
They  that  are  with  child,  are  they  who  covet  what  belongs  to  £™'f5 
others ;  they  that  give  suck,  are  they  who  have  already  forcibly  2. 
taken  that  which  they  coveted ;  to  them  shall  be  woe  in  the 
day  of  judgment.     Pray  ye  that  your  flight  be  not  in  the 
winter,  or  on  the  sabbath  day;  that  is,     AUG.  That  no  one  Aug. 
be  found  in    that  day  in  either  joy  or  sorrow  for  temporal  j^j  ' 
things.   '  HILARY  ;    Or ;  That  we  be  not  taken  in  the  frost  37. 
of  sins,  or  in  discontinuance  of  good  works,  because  of  the 
soreness  of  the  affliction ;  notwithstanding  that  for  the  sake 
of  God's  elect,  those  days  shall  be  shortened,  that  the  abridg 
ment  of  the  time  may  disarm  the  force  of  the  calamities. 

ORIGEN;  Mystically;  In  the  holy  place  of  the  Scriptures, 
both  Old  and  New  Testament,  Antichrist,  that  is,  false  word, 
has  often  stood ;  let  those  who  see  this  flee  from  the  Judaea 
of  the  letter  to  the  high  mountains  of  truth.  And  whoso 
has  been  found  to  have  gone  up  to  the  house-top  of  the  word, 
and  to  be  standing  upon  its  summit,  let  him  not  come  down 
thence  as  though  he  would  fetch  any  thing  out  of  his  house. 
And  if  he  be  in  the  field  in  which  the  treasure  is  hid,  and 
return  thence  to  his  house,  he  will  run  into  the  temptation  of 
a  false  word ;  but  especially  if  he  have  stripped  off  his  old 
garment,  that  is,  the  old  man,  and  should  have  returned  again 
to  take  it  up.  Then  the  soul,  as  it  were  with  child  by  the 
word,  not  having  yet  brought  forth,  is  liable  to  a  woe ;  for  it 
casts  that  which  it  had  conceived,  and  loses  that  hope  which 
is  in  the  acts  of  truth  ;  and  the  same  also  if  the  word  has 
been  brought  forth  perfect  and  entire,  but  not  having  yet 
attained  sufficient  growth.  Let  them  that  flee  to  the 
mountains  pray  that  their  flight  be  not  in  the  winter  or  on 
the  sabbath-day,  because  in  the  serenity  of  a  settled  spirit 
they  may  reach  the  way  of  salvation,  but  if  the  winter  over 
take  them  they  fall  amongst  those  whom  they  would  fly 
from.  And  there  be  some  who  rest  from  evil  works,  but  do 
not  good  works;  be  your  flight  then  not  on  such  sabbath 


816  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

when   a  man   rests  from   good  works,  for  no  man  is  easily 

overcome  in  times  of  peril  from  false  doctrines,  except  he  is 

unprovided  with  good  works.     But  what  sorer  affliction  is 

there  than  to  see  our  brethren  deceived,  and  to  feel  one's  self 

shaken  and  terrified?    Those  days  mean  the  precepts  and 

1  Tim.  dogmas  of  truth ;  and  all  interpretations  coming  of  science 

'        falsely  so  called  are  so  many  additions  to  those  days,  which 

God  shortens  by  those  whom  He  wills. 

23.  Then  if  any  man  shall  say  unto  you,  Lo,  here 
is  Christ,  or  there ;  believe  it  not. 

24.  For  there  shall   arise  false   Christs,  and  false 
prophets,  and  shall  shew  great  signs  and  wonders ; 
insomuch  that,  if  it  were  possible,  they  shall  deceive 
the  very  elect. 

25.  Behold,  I  have  told  you  before. 

26.  Wherefore  if  they  shall  say  unto  you,  Behold, 
he  is  in  the  desert ;  go  not  forth  :  behold,  he  is  in  the 
secret  chambers  ;  believe  it  not. 

27.  For  as  the  lightning  cometh  out  of  the  east, 
and   shineth  even  unto  the  west ;    so   shall  also  the 
coming  of  the  Son  of  man  be. 

28.  For  wheresoever  the  carcase  is,  there  will  the 
eagles  be  gathered  together. 

CHRYS.  When  the  Lord  had  finished  all  that  related  to 
Jerusalem,  He  came  in  the  rest  to  His  own  coming,  and 
gives  them  signs  thereof,  useful  not  for  them  only,  but  for  us 
and  for  all  who  shall  be  after  us.  As  above,  the  Evangelist 
Mat.  3,  said,  In  those  days  came  John  the  Baptist,  not  implying  im- 
*'  mediately  after  what  had  gone  before,  but  thirty  years  after ; 
so  here,  when  He  says  Then,  He  passes  over  the  whole 
interval  of  time  between  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
beginnings  of  the  consummation  of  the  world.  Among  the 
signs  which  He  gives  of  His  second  coming  He  certifies 
them  concerning  the  place,  and  the  deceivers.  For  it  shall 
not  be  then  as  at  His  former  coming,  wrhen  He  appeared  in 
Bethlehem,  in  a  corner  of  the  world,  unknown  of  any ;  but 


VER.  23 — 28.  ST.  MATTHEW.  817 

He  shall  come  openly  so  as  not  to  need  any  to  announce  His 
approach,  wherefore,  If  any  man  shall  say  unto  you,  Lo,here 
is  Christ, or  there,  believe  not.     JEROME;  Wherein  He  shews 
that  His  second  coming  shall  be  not  in  lowliness  as  His  first, 
but  in  glory ;  and  therefore  it  is  folly  to  seek  in  places  little 
and  obscure  for  Him  who  is  the  Light  of  the  whole  world.  John  8, 
HILARY;  Notwithstanding,  by  reason  of  the  great  tribulation  in  12- 
which  men  shall  be  cast,  false  prophets  promising  to  shew  aid 
present  from  Christ,  will  falsely  affirm  that  Christ  is  present 
in   divers   places,  that  they  may  draw  into   the    service   of 
Antichrist   men   discouraged   and   distracted.     CHRYS.    He 
speaks   here    of   Antichrist,  and    of  certain    his   ministers, 
whom  He  calls  false  Christs  and  false  prophets,  such  as  were 
many  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles ;  but  before  Christ's  second  cf. 
coming  there  shall  come  others  more  bitter  than  the  former,  And  ^  ^hes. 
they  shall  shew  great  signs  and  wonders.     AUG.  Here  the  Aug. 
Lord  forewarns  us  that  even  wicked   men  shall   do   some  ~ib>  ®3 

Qusest. 

miracles  which  the  saints  cannot  do,  yet  are  they  not  there-  q.  79 
fore  to  be  thought  to  have  a  higher  place  in  the  sight  of 
God.  For  the  Egyptian  magi  were  not  more  acceptable 
to  God  than  the  people  of  Israel,  because  they  could  do 
what  the  Israelites  could  not ;  yet  did  Moses,  by  the  power 
of  God,  work  greater  things.  This  gift  is  not  bestowed  on 
all  the  saints,  lest  the  weak  should  be  led  astray  by  a  most 
destructive  error,  supposing  such  powers  to  be  higher  gifts 
than  those  works  of  righteousness  by  which  eternal  life  is 
secured.  And  though  magi  do  the  same  miracles  that  the 
saints  do,  yet  are  they  done  with  a  different  end,  and  through 
a  different  authority ;  for  the  one  do  them  seeking  the  glory 
of  God,  the  others  seeking  their  own  glory ;  these  do  them 
by  some  special  compact  or  privilege  *  granted  to  the  Powers,  i  al.  ve- 
within  their  sphere,  those  by  the  public  dispensation  andneficia< 
the  command  of  Him  to  whom  all  creation  is  subject f.  For 
it  is  one  thing  for  the  owner  of  a  horse  to  be  compelled  to 
give  it  up  to  a  soldier,  another  for  him  to  hand  it  over  to 
a  purchaser,  or  to  give  or  lend  it  to  a  friend ;  and  as  those 
evil  soldiers,  who  are  condemned  by  the  imperial  discipline, 
employ  the  imperial  ensigns  to  terrify  the  owners  of  any 
property,  and  to  extort  from  them  what  is  not  required  by 

f  See  above  on  chap.  vii.  22. 
VOL.  I.  3  G 


818 


GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO 


CHAP.  XXIV. 


Trin.iii. 
8. 


the  public  service ;  so  some  evil  Christians,  by  means  of  the 
name  of  Christ,  or  by  words  or  sacraments  Christian, 
compel  somewhat  from  the  Powers;  yet  these,  when  thus 
at  the  bidding  of  evil  men,  they  depart  from  their  purpose, 
they  depart  in  order  to  deceive  men  in  whose  wanderings 
they  rejoice.  It  is  one  way  then  in  which  magi,  another 
in  which  good  Christians,  another  in  which  bad  Christians, 
work  miracles;  the  magi  by  a  private  compact,  good  Chris 
tians  by  the  public  righteousness,  evil  Christians  by  the 
.  signs  of  public  righteousness.  'And  we  ought  not  to  wonder 
at  this  when  we  believe  not  unreasonably  that  all  that  we 
see  happen  is  wrought  by  the  agency  of  the  inferior  powers 
Aug.  de0f  this  air.  AUG.  Yet  are  we  not  therefore  to  think  that 
this  visible  material  world  attends  the  nod  of  the  disobedient 
angels,  but  rather  the  power  is  given  them  of  God.  Nor 
are  we  to  suppose  that  such  evil  angels  have  creative  power, 
but  by  their  spirituality  they  know  the  seeds  of  things  which 
are  hidden  from  us,  and  these  they  secretly  scatter  by  suitable 
adaptations  of  the  elements,  and  so  they  give  occasion  both 
to  the  whole  being,  and  the  more  rapid  increase  of  sub 
stances.  For  so  there  are  many  men  who  know  what  sort 
of  creatures  use  to  be  generated  out  of  certain  herbs,  meats, 
juices  and  humours,  bruised  and  mingled  together  in  a  certain 
fashion ;  save  only  that  it  is  harder  for  men  to  do  these 
things,  inasmuch  as  they  lack  that  subtlety  of  sense,  and 
penetrativeness  of  body  in  their  limbs  dull  and  of  earthly 
mould.  GREG.  When  then  Antichrist  shall  have  wrought 
wonderful  prodigies  before  the  eyes  of  the  carnal,  he  shall 
draw  men  after  him,  all  such  as  delight  in  present  goods, 
surrendering  themselves  irrevocably  to  his  sway,  Insomuch 
that  if  it  were  possible  the  very  elect  should  be  led  astray. 
ORIG.  That,  If  it  were  possible,  is  spoken  hyperbolically ; 
not  that  the  elect  can  be  led  astray,  but  He  wishes  to  shew 
that  the  discourse  of  heretics  is  often  so  persuasive,  as  to 
al.  au-  have  force  to  prevail  even  with  those  who  act2  wisely.  GREG. 
Or,  because  the  heart  of  the  elect  is  assailed  with  fearful 
thoughts,  yet  their  faithfulness  is  not  shaken,  the  Lord  com 
prehends  both  under  the  same  sentence,  for  to  waver  in 
thought  is  to  err.  He  adds,  If  it  were  possible,  because 
it  is  not  possible  that  the  elect  should  be  taken  in  error 


Greg. 

Mor.xv. 

61. 


diunt. 

Greg. 

Mor. 

xxxiii 

36. 


VER.  23 — 28.  ST.  MATTHEW.  819 

RABAN.  He  says  not  this  because  it  is  possible  for  the  divine 
election  to  be  defeated,  but  because  they,  who  to  men's 
judgment  seemed  elect,  shall  be  led  into  error.  GREG.  Greg. 
And  as  darts,  when  foreseen,  are  less  likely  to  hit,  He  adds,  jn  EV° 
Lo,  I  have  told  you.  Our  Lord  announces  the  woes  which 
are  to  precede  the  destruction  of  the  world,  that  when  they 
come  they  may  alarm  the  less  from  having  been  foreknown. 
HILARY;  The  false  prophets,  of  whom  He  had  spoken 
above,  shall  say  of  Christ  one  while,  Lo,  He  is  in  the 
desert,  in  order  that  they  may  cause  men  to  wander 
astray ;  another  while,  Lo,  He  is  in  the  secret  chambers, 
that  they  may  enthral  men  under  the  dominion  of  Anti 
christ.  But  the  Lord  declares  Himself  to  be  neither 
lurking  in  a  remote  corner,  nor  shut  up  to  be  visited  singly, 
but  that  He  shall  be  exhibited  to  the  view  of  all,  and  in 
every  place,  As  the  lightning  cometh  out  of  the  east,  and 
shineth  even  unto  the  west,  so  shall  the  coming  of  the  Son 
of  Man  be.  CHRYS.  As  He  had  above  described  in  what 
guise  Antichrist  should  come,  so  here  He  describes  how  He 
Himself  shall  come.  For  as  the  lightning  needeth  none  to 
herald  or  announce  it,  but  is  in  an  instant  of  time  visible 
throughout  the  whole  world,  even  to  those  that  are  sitting  in 
their  chambers,  so  the  coming  of  Christ  shall  be  seen  every 
where  at  once,  because  of  the  brightness  of  His  glory. 
Another  sign  He  adds  of  His  coming,  Wheresoever  the  body 
is,  thither  will  the  eagles  be  gathered  together.  The  eagles 
denote  the  company  of  the  Angels,  Martyrs,  and  Saints. 
JEROME  ;  By  an  instance  from  nature,  which  we  daily  see, 
we  are  instructed  in  a  sacrament  of  Christ.  Eagles  and 
vultures  are  said  to  scent  dead  bodies  even  beyond  sea, 
and  to  flock  to  feed  upon  them.  If  then  birds,  not 
having  the  gift  of  reason,  by  instinct  alone  find  out  where 
lays  a  dead  body,  separated  by  so  great  space  of  country, 
how  much  more  ought  the  whole  multitude  of  believers  to 
hasten  to  Christ,  whose  lightning  goeth  forth  out  of  the  east, 
and  shines  even  to  the  west?  We  may  understand  by 
the  carcase  here,  or  corpse1,  which  in  the  Latin  is  morei 
expressively  '  cadaver,'  an  allusion  to  the  passion  of  Christ's 
death.  HILARY;  That  we  might  not  be  ignorant  of  the 
place  in  which  He  should  come,  He  adds  this,  Wheresoever 

3  G  2 


820  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

the  carcase,   fyc.      He   calls   the    Saints  eagles,   from   the 
spiritual  flight  of  their  bodies,  and  shews  that  their  gathering 
shall  be  to  the  place  of  His  passion,  the  Angels  guiding 
them  thither;    and  rightly  should  we  look  for  His  coming 
in  glory  there,  where  He  wrought  for  us  eternal  glory  by 
the   suffering   of  His   bodily   humiliation.      ORIGEN  ;    And 
observe,  He  says  not  vultures  or  crows,  but  eagles,  shewing 
the  lordliness  and  royalty  of  all  who  have  believed  in  the 
Ps.  103,  Lord's  passion.     JEROME;    They  are   called   eagles  whose 
3j  8'    '  youth  is  renewed  as  the  eagle's,  and  who  take  to  themselves 
Greg,     wings   that  they  may   come   to   Christ's   passion.      GREG. 
We  may  understand  this,    Wheresoever  the  carcase  is,  as 


*3-  meaning,  I  who  incarnate  sit  on  the  throne  of  heaven,  as 
soon  as  I  shall  have  loosed  the  souls  of  the  elect  from  the 
flesh,  will  exalt  them  to  heavenly  places.  JEROME  ;  Or 
otherwise  ;  This  may  be  understood  of  the  false  prophets. 
At  the  time  of  the  Jewish  captivity,  there  were  many  leaders 
Joseph,  who  declared  themselves  to  be  Christs,  so  that  while  the 
B.  J.v.i.  Romans  were  actually  besieging  them,  there  were  three 
factions  within.  But  it  is  better  taken  as  we  expounded  it 
above,  of  the  end  of  the  world.  Thirdly,  it  may  be  under 
stood  of  the  warfare  of  the  heretics  against  the  Church,  and 
of  those  Antichrists,  who  under  pretext  of  false  science,  fight 
against  Christ.  ORIGEN  ;  The  genus  of  Antichrist  is  one, 
the  species  many,  just  as  all  lies  are  of  one  sort.  As  all 
the  holy  Prophets  were  Prophets  of  the  true  Christ,  so 
understand  that  each  false  Christ  shall  have  his  own  false 
Prophets,  who  shall  preach  as  true  the  false  teachings  of 
some  Antichrist.  When  then  one  shall  say,  Lo,  here  is 
Christ,  or  lo,  there,  we  need  not  look  abroad  out  of  the 
Scriptures,  for  out  of  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Apostles, 
they  bring  the  things  which  seem  to  favour  their  lie.  Or 
by  this,  Lo,  here  is  Christ,  or  lo,  there,  they  shew  that  it  was 
not  Christ,  but  some  impostor  under  the  same  title,  such 
for  example  as  Marcion,  or  Valentinus,  or  Basilides  taught. 
JEROME  ;  If  then  any  one  assert  to  you  that  Christ  tarries 
in  the  desert  of  the  Gentiles,  or  in  the  teaching  of  the 
Philosophers,  or  in  the  secret  chambers  of  the  heretics,  who 
promise  the  hidden  things  of  God,  believe  Him  not,  but 
believe  that  the  Catholic  Faith  shines  from  east  to  west  in 


VER.  23 28.  ST.  MATTHEW.  821 

the  Churches.  AUG.  By  the  east  and  west,  He  signifies  Au8- 
the  whole  world,  throughout  which  the  Church  should  be.  EvT.38. 
In  the  same  way  as  He  said  below,  Hereafter  shall  ye  .seeMat.26, 
the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  so  now 
He  likens  His  coming  to  lightning,  which  uses  to  flash  out 
of  the  clouds.  When  then  the  authority  of  the  Church  is 
set  up  clear  and  manifest  throughout  the  whole  world,  He 
suitably  warns  His  disciples  that  they  should  not  believe 
schismatics  and  heretics.  Each  schism  and  heresy  holds 
its  own  place,  either  occupying  some  important  position  in 
the  earth,  or  ensnaring  men's  curiosity  in  obscure  and  re 
mote  conventicles.  Lo,  here  is  Christ,  or  lo,  there,  refers 
to  some  district  or  province  of  the  earth ;  the  secret  chambers, 
or  the  desert,  signify  the  obscure  and  lurking  conventicles 
of  heretics.  JEROME  ;  Or  by  this,  in  the  desert,  or  in  the 
secret  chambers,  Ele  means  that  in  times  of  persecution  and 
distress,  the  false  Prophets  always  find  place  for  deceiving. 

ORIGEN  ;  Or,  when  they  allege  secret  and  before  unpublished 
Scriptures,  in  proof  of  their  lie,  they  seem  to  say,  Lo,  the 
word  of  truth  is  in  the  desert.  But  when  they  produce  ca 
nonical  Scripture  in  which  all  Christians  agree,  they  seem 
to  say,  Lo,  the  word  of  truth  is  in  the  chambers.  Or  wishing 
to  point  out  such  discourses  as  are  altogether  without  Scrip 
ture,  He  said,  If  they  shall  say  to  you,  Lo,  he  is  in  the  secret 
chambers,  believe  it  not.  Truth  is  like  the  lightning  that 
cometh  out  of  the  east,  and  shineth  even  unto  the  west. 
Or  this  may  mean,  that  truth  can  be  supported  out  of  every 
passage  of  Scripture.  The  lightning  of  truth  comes  out  of 
the  east,  that  is,  from  the  first  beginnings  of  Christ,  and  shines 
throughout  even  to  His  passion,  which  is  His  setting ;  or 
from  the  very  beginning  of  creation,  to  the  last  Scripture  of 
the  Apostles.  Or,  the  east  is  the  Law,  the  u'est  is  the  end 
of  the  Law,  and  of  John's  prophecy.  The  Church  alone 
neither  takes  away  word  or  meaning  from  this  lightning,  nor 
adds  aught  to  its  prophecy.  Or  He  means  that  we  should 
give  no  heed  to  those  who  say,  Lo,  here  is  Christ,  but  shew 
Him  not  in  the  Church,  in  which  alone  is  the  coming  oi 
the  Son  of  Man,  who  said,  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  M.at.28 
even  to  the  end  of  the  world.  JEROME  ;  We  are  invited 20- 
to  flock  to  Christ's  passion  wheresoever  in  Scripture  it  is 


B22  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

read  of,  that  through  it  we  may  be  able  to  come  to  God's 
word. 


29.  Immediately   after   the    tribulation    of    those 
days  shall  the  sun  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  shall 
not  give  her  light,  and  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven, 
and  the  powers  of  the  heavens  shall  be  shaken  : 

30.  And  then  shall  appear  the  sign   of  the   Son 
of  man  in  heaven :    and  then  shall  all  the  tribes  of 
the  earth  mourn. 


non  occ. 


™  °!!L  GLOSS.  As  soon  as  the  Lord  has  fortified  the  believers 
against  the  arts  of  Antichrist  and  his  ministers,  by  shewing 
that  His  coming  would  be  public,  He  proceeds  to  shew  the 
order  and  method  of  His  coming.  CHRYS.  By  the  tribu 
lation,  He  means  the  times  of  Antichrist  and  the  false 
Prophets ;  for  when  there  are  so  many  deceivers,  the  tribu 
lation  will  be  great.  But  it  shall  not  extend  through  any 
great  length  of  time.  For  if  for  the  elect's  sake  the  Jewish 
war  is  shortened,  much  more  shall  this  tribulation  be  shortened 
for  their  sakes;  for  which  reason  He  said  not  After,  but 
Immediately  after,  for  He  shall  come  immediately  after. 
HILARY;  The  darkening  of  the  sun,  the  failing  of  the  moon, 
and  the  fall  of  the  stars,  indicate  the  glories  of  His  coming. 
ORIGEN  ;  One  will  say,  As  at  the  breaking  out  of  great  con 
flagrations,  great  darkness  is  at  the  first  caused  by  the  smoke, 
so  when  the  world  shall  be  consumed  by  fire,  which  shall 
be  kindled,  even  the  great  luminaries  shall  be  darkened; 
and  when  the  light  of  the  stars  is  decayed,  the  rest  of  their 
substance,  incapable  of  exaltation,  shall  fall  from  heaven  into 
what  it  was,  when  it  was  first  raised  aloft  by  the  light. 
When  this  shall  have  taken  place,  it  follows  that  the  rational 
heavenly  powers  shall  suffer  dismay  and  derangement,  and 
shall  be  suspended  from  their  functions.  And  then  shall 
appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  heaven,  that  sign  by 
which  the  heavenly  things  were  made,  that  is,  the  power 
which  the  Son  wrought  when  He  hung  upon  the  cross. 
And  the  sign  shall  appear  in  heaven,  that  men  of  all  tribes 


VER.  29,  30.  ST.  MATTHEW.  823 

who  before  had  not  believed  Christianity  when  preached, 
then  by  that  sign,  acknowledging  it  as   made  plain,  shall 
grieve  and  mourn  for  their  ignorance  and  sins.     Others  will 
think  otherwise,  that  as  the  light  of  a  lamp  dies  away  by 
degrees,  so  when  the  supply  of  the  heavenly  luminaries  shall 
fail,  the  sun  shall  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  and  the  light 
of  the  stars  shall  grow  dim,  and  that  which  in  their  com 
position   is  earthy  shall  fall  from  heaven.      But  how  can 
it  be  said  of  the  sun  that  its  light  shall  be  darkened,  when 
Esaias  the  Prophet  declares,  that  in  the  end  of  the  world,  is.  so, 
there  shall  be  light  proceeding  forth  from  the  sun  ?     And 
of  the  moon  he  declares  that  it  shall  be  as  the  sun.     But 
concerning  the  stars,  there  are  some  that  endeavour  to  con 
vince  us  that  all,  or  many  of  them,  are  larger  than  the  whole 
earth.     How  then  shall  they  fall    from  heaven,  when  this 
earth  would  not  be  large  enough  to  contain  them  ?     JEROME; 
These  things,  therefore,  shall  not  come  to  pass  by  any  dimi 
nution  of  light,  for  in  another  place  we  read  that  the  light 
of  the  sun  shall  be  sevenfold ;   but  by  comparison  with  real 
light,   all   things    shall   seem    dim.      RABAN.    But  nothing 
hinders    our   supposing   that    the    sun    and  moon  with   the 
other  stars  shall  for  a  time  lose  their  light,  as  we  know  did 
the  sun  at  the  time  of  the  Lord's  passion ;  as  Joel  also  says,  joel  2, 
The  sun  shall  be  turned  into  darkness,  and  the  moon  into31- 
blood,  be/ore  the  great  and  manifest  day  of  the  Lord  come. 
But  when  the   day  of  judgment  is  passed,  and  the  life  of 
future  glory  shall   dawn,  and  there  shall  be  a  new  heaven 
and  a  new  earth,  then  shall  that  come  to  pass  of  which  Isaiah  is.  30, 
speaks,  The  light  of  the  moon  shall  be  as  the  light  of  the 
sun,  and  the  light  of  the  sun  shall  be  sevenfold.     T/te  stars 
shall  fall  from  heaven,  is  expressed  in  Mark;    There  shall  Mark 
be  stars  falling  from  heaven,  that  is,  lacking  their  proper  13>  2  * 
light.     JEROME  ;    By  the  powers  of  heaven,  we  understand 
the  bands  of  the    Angels.      CHRYS.    Very  fitly  shall   they 
be  shaken  and  dismayed,  seeing  so  mighty  a  change  being 
wrought,  their    fellow-servants   punished,  and  the    universe 
standing  before  a  terrible  tribunal.     ORIGEN  ;  But  as,  at  the 
dispensation  of  the  Cross,  the  sun  was  eclipsed,  and  darkness 
was  spread  over  the  earth ;   so  when  the  sign  of  the  Son  of 
Man  appears  in  heaven,  the  light  of  the  sun,  moon,  and 


824  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

stars,  shall  fail,  as  though  waning  before  the  might  of  that 

sign.     This  we  understand  to  be  the  sign  of  the  cross,  that 

Zech.     the  Jews  may  see,  as  Zacharias  and  John  speak,  Him  whom 

12    JO 

Johni9  they  have  pierced,  and  the  sign  of  victory.  CHRYS.  But 
37'  because  the  sun  will  be  darkened,  the  cross  would  not  be 
seen,  if  it  were  not  far  brighter  than  the  rays  of  the  sun. 
That  the  disciples  might  not  be  ashamed,  and  grieve  over 
the  cross,  He  speaks  of  it  as  a  sign,  with  a  kind  of  distinction. 
The  sign  of  the  cross  will  appear  to  overthrow  the  shame- 
lessness  of  the  Jews,  when  Christ  shall  appear  in  the  judg 
ment,  shewing  not  only  His  wounds,  but  His  most  ignominious 
death,  And  then  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  shall  mourn. 
For  when  they  shall  see  the  cross,  they  shall  bethink  them 
how  they  have  gained  nought  by  His  death,  and  that  they 
have  crucified  Him  whom  they  ought  to  have  worshipped. 
JEROME  ;  Rightly  does  He  say,  the  tribes  of  the  earth,  for 
they  shall  mourn  who  have  no  citizenship  in  heaven,  but 
Jer.  1 7,  are  written  in  earth.  ORIGEN  ;  Morally,  one  may  say  that 
the  sun,  which  shall  be  darkened,  is  the  Devil,  who  shall 
be  convicted  in  the  end  of  the  world,  that  whereas  he  is 
darkness,  he  has  feigned  himself  to  be  the  sun ;  the  moon, 
which  seems  to  receive  its  light  from  this  sun,  is  the  Church 
of  the  wicked,  which  professes  to  have  and  to  give  light, 
but  then  convicted  with  its  sinful  dogmas,  shall  lose  its 
brightness ;  and  all  those  who,  either  by  false  teaching,  or 
false  virtues,  promised  truth  to  men,  but  led  them  astray 
by  lies,  these  are  fitly  called  stars  falling  from,  so  to  say, 
their  own  heaven,  where  they  were  raised  on  high,  exalting 
themselves  against  the  knowledge  of  God.  For  illustration 
of  this  discourse,  we  may  apply  that  place  in  Proverbs,  which 
Prov.  4,  says,  The  light  of  the  just  is  unquenchable,  but  the  light  of 
the  wicked  shall  be  quenched.  Then  the  brightness  of  God 
shall  appear  in  every  one  who  has  borne  the  image  of  the 
heavenly  ;  and  they  of  heaven  shall  rejoice,  but  they  of  earth 
Aug.  shall  lament.  AUG.  Or,  the  Church  is  the  sun,  moon,  and 
Ep.  199,  starS)  to  which  it  is  said,  Fair  as  the  moon,  bright  as  the 

BVi 

Song  of  sun.     Then  shall  the  sun  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  shall 

6  i°o!°n/l0^  9*ve  her  light,  because  in  that  ungoverned  fury  of  wicked 

persecutors,  the  Church  shall  not  be  seen.     Then  shall  the 

stars  fall  from  heaven,  and  the  powers  of  heaven  shall  be 


VER.  30.  ST.  MATTHEW.  825 

shaken,  because  many,  who  seemed  to  be  shining  in  God's 
grace,  shall  give  way  to  their  persecutors,  and  shall  fall,  and 
even  the  stoutest  believers  shall  be  shaken.  And  these  things 
shall  be  after  the  tribulation  of  those  days,  not  because  they 
shall  happen  when  the  whole  persecution  is  overpast,  but 
because  the  tribulation  shall  be  first,  that  the  falling  away 
may  come  after.  And  because  it  shall  be  so  throughout  all 
those  days,  it  shall  be  after  the  tribulation  of  those  days, 
yet  on  those  very  days. 

And  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory. 

CHRYS.  He  adds  this,  that  having  heard  of  the  cross,  they 
should  not  now  imagine  a  similar  degradation.  AUG.  The  Aug. 
first  and  most  apparent  meaning  of  this  is  of  that  time  when  41P>  ' 
He  shall  come  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead  in  His  body 
— that  body  in  which  He  sits  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father, 
in  which  He  died  and  rose  again  and  ascended  into  heaven. 
As  we  read  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles;  He  was  taken  up,A.ctai,9. 
and  a  cloud  received  Him  out  of  their  sight,  upon  which 
it  was  said  by  the  Angels,  He  shall  so  come  as  ye  hare  seen 
Him  ffo  into  heaven,  we  may  reasonably  believe  that  He 
will  come  again,  not  only  in  the  same  body,  but  also  in 
a  cloud.  ORIGEN  ;  Therefore  shall  they  see  with  the  bodily 
eyes  the  Son  of  Man,  coming  in  human  shape,  in  the  clouds 
of  heaven,  that  is,  on  high.  As  at  the  transfiguration,  a 
voice  came  out  of  the  cloud,  so  when  He  shall  come  again 
transformed  into  His  glorious  appearance,  it  shall  be  not 
on  one  cloud,  but  upon  many,  which  shall  be  His  chariot. 
And  if  when  the  Son  of  God  went  up  to  Jerusalem,  they 
who  loved  Him  spread  their  garments  in  the  way,  not  willing 
that  even  the  ass  that  carried  Him  should  tread  upon  the  earth ; 
what  wonder,  if  the  Father  and  God  of  all  should  spread 
the  clouds  of  heaven  under  the  body  of  the  Son,  when  He 
comes  to  the  work  of  the  consummation  ?  And  one  may  say, 
that  as  in  the  creation  of  man,  God  took  clay  from  the  earth 
and  made  man ;  so  to  manifest  the  glory  of  Christ,  the  Lord 
taking  of  the  heaven,  and  of  its  substance,  gave  it  a  body 


826  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

of  a  bright  cloud  in  the  Transfiguration,  and  of  bright  clouds 
at  the  Consummation ;  wherefore  it  is  here  said,  in  the  clouds 
Gen.  2,  of  heaven,  as  it  was  there  said,  of  the  clay  of  the  ground. 
And  it  behoves  the  Father  to  give  all  such  admirable  gifts 
to  the  Son,  because  He  humbled  Himself;  and  He  has  also 
exalted  Him,  not  only  spiritually,  but  bodily,  that  He  should 
come  upon  such  clouds ;  and  perhaps  upon  rational  clouds, 
that  even  the  chariot  of  the  glorified  Son  of  Man  should 
not  be  irrational.  At  the  first,  Jesus  came  with  that  power 
with  which  He  wrought  signs  and  wonders  in  the  people  ; 
yet  was  that  power  little  in  comparison  of  that  great  power 
with  which  He  shall  come  in  the  end ;  for  that  was  the 
power  of  one  emptying  Himself  of  power.  And  also,  it 
is  fitting  that  He  should  be  transformed  into  greater  glory 
than  at  the  transfiguration  on  the  mount ;  for  then  He 
was  transfigured  for  the  sake  of  three  only,  but  in  the  con 
summation  of  the  whole  world,  He  shall  appear  in  great 
glory,  that  all  may  see  Him  in  glory. 

Aug.          AUG.  But  because  the  Scriptures  are  to  be  searched,  and 
sup'  we  are  not  to  content  ourselves  with  the  surface  of  them,  let 
us  look  closely  at  what  follows,  When  ye  see  all  these  things 
come  to  pass,  know  that  he  is  near  even  at  the  door.     We 
know  then  that  He  is  near,  when  we  see  come  to  pass  not  any 
of  the  foregoing  things,  but  all  of  them,  among  which  is  this 
that  the  Son  of  Man  shall  be  seen  coming.     And  he  shall 
send  his  Angels,  who  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  world 
shall  gather  together  His  elect.     All  these  things  He  does  at 
l  John  the  last  hour  coming  in  His  members  as  in  the  clouds,  or  in 
2>  18*    the  whole  Church  as  in  one  great  cloud,  as  now  He  ceases  not 
to  come.    And  with  great  power  and  glory,  because  His  power 
and  glory  will  seem  greater  in  the  Saints  to  whom  He  will 
give  great  power,  that  they  may  not  be  overcome  of  perse 
cution.     ORIGEN  ;  Or  He  comes  every  day  tcith  great  power 
to  the  mind  of  the  believer  in  the  clouds  of  prophecy,  that  is, 
in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Prophets  and  the  Apostles,  who  utter 
the  word  of  God  with  a  meaning  above  human  nature.     Also 
we  say  that  to  those  who  understand  He  comes  with  great 
glory,  and  that  this  is  the  more  seen  in  the  second  coming 
lnonocc.  of  the  Word  which  is  to  the  perfect.     *  And  so  it  may  be,  that 
all  which  the  three  Evangelists  have  said  concerning  Christ's 


VEil.  31.  ST.  MATTHEW.  827 

coming,  if  carefully  compared  together  and  thoroughly  exa 
mined,  would  be  found  to  apply  to  His  continual  daily  coming 
in  His  body,  which  is  the  Church,  of  which  coming  He  said 
in  another  place,  Hereafter  shall  ye  see  the  Son  of  Man  «7- 
ting  on  the  right  hand  of  the  power  of  God,  and  coming  in 
the  clouds  of  heaven,  excepting  those  places  in  which  He  pro 
mises  that  His  last  coming  in  His  own  person. 

31.  And  he  shall  send  his  angels  with  a  great  sound 
of  a  trumpet,  and  they  shall  gather  together  his  elect 
from  the  four  winds,  from  one  end  of  heaven  to  the  other. 

ORIGEN  ;  Because  He  had  spoken  of  mourning,  which  shall 
be  only  that  they  may  bear  witness  against  themselves  and 
condemn  themselves,  that  none  should  suppose  that  that  mourn 
ing  will  end  their  woes,  He  now  adds,  And  he  shall  send  his 
Angels  with  a  trump  and  a  loud  voice.  REMIG.  Here  we 
are  not  to  think  of  a  real  trumpet,  but  of  the  voice  of  the 
archangel,  which  shall  be  so  loud  that  at  its  sound  all  the  dead 
shall  rise  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth.  CHRYS.  The  sound 
of  the  trump  refers  to  the  resurrection,  and  the  rejoicing,  and  to 
represent  the  astonishment  which  shall  be  then,  and  the  woe  of 
those  that  shall  be  left,  and  shall  not  be  snatched  up  into  the 
clouds.  ORIGEN  ;  It  is  written  in  Numbers,  that  the  Priests  Numb. 
shall  summon  by  the  sound  of  the  trumpet  from  the  four  winds  '  ' 
those  who  are  of  the  camp  of  Israel,  and  it  is  in  allusion  to 
this  that  Christ  speaks  here  of  the  Angels,  And  they  shall  ga 
ther  together  the  elect  from  the  four  winds.  REMIG.  That 
is,  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  world,  north,  south,  east,  and 
west.  ORIGEN  ;  Some  of  little  discernment  think,  that  only 
those  who  shall  then  be  found  in  the  body  shall  be  gathered 
together,  but  it  is  better  to  say  that  the  Angels  of  Christ  shall 
then  gather  together  not  only  all  who  from  the  coming  of 
Christ  to  the  end  of  the  world  have  been  called  and  chosen, 
but  all  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  who  like  Abraham  John  8, 
have  seen  the  day  of  Christ  and  rejoiced  therein.  And  that56' 
He  here  means  not  only  those  that  shall  be  found  in  the  body, 
but  those  also  who  have  quitted  the  body,  the  following  words 
shcw,yVo/«  one  end  of  heaven  to  the  other,  which  cannot  be 
meant  of  any  one  upon  earth.  Or,  the  heavens  are  the  divine 


828  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

1  al.  au-  Scriptures  and  their  authors1  in  which  God  dwells.  One  end 
of  heaven  is  the  beginning  of  the  Scriptures,  the  other  end  is 
their  conclusion.  The  saints  there  are  gathered  togetheryrow 
one  end  of  heaven,  that  is,  from  those  that  live  in  the  beginning 
of  the  Scriptures  to  those  who  live  in  the  ends  of  them.  They 
shall  be  gathered  together  with  a  trump  and  a  loud  voice, 
that  they  who  hear  and  attend  may  prepare  themselves 
for  that  way  of  perfection  which  leads  to  the  Son  of  God. 
REMIG.  Or  otherwise;  Lest  any  one  should  suppose  that  they 
should  be  gathered  only  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  world, 
and  not  from  the  middle  regions,  He  adds  this,  And  from  one 
end  of  heaven  to  the  other.  By  the  heights  of  heaven  meaning 
the  central  regions  of  the  earth,  which  are  under  the  heights 
of  heaven;  and  by  the  ends  of  heaven,  meaning  the  extreme 
parts  of  the  earth,  where  the  land  seems  to  join  a  very  wide 
and  distant  horizon.  CHRYS.  That  the  Lord  calls  His  elect 
by  His  Angels  pertains  to  the  honour  of  the  elect ;  and  Paul 

l  Thes.  also  says  that  they  shall  be  caught  into  the  clouds ;   that  is, 

'     '     the  Angels  shall  gather  together  those  that  have  risen,  and 

when  they  are  gathered  together,  the  clouds  shall  receive  them. 

32.  Now  learn  a  parable  of  the  fig  tree  ;  When  his 
branch    is    yet  tender,  and  putteth  forth  leaves,  ye 
know  that  summer  is  nigh  : 

33.  So   likewise  ye,   when  ye  shall  see   all  these 
things,  know  that  it  is  near,  even  at  the  doors. 

34.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  This  generation  shall 
not  pass,  till  all  these  things  be  fulfilled. 

35.  Heaven    and   earth    shall    pass  away,  but  my 
words  shall  not  pass  away. 

Horn!  CHRYS.  Because  He  had  said  that  these  things  should 
Ixxvii.  come  to  pass  immediately  after  the  tribulation  of  those  days, 
they  might  ask,  How  long  time  hence  ?  He  therefore  gives 
them  an  instance  in  the  fig  JEKOME;  As  much  as  to 
say,  When  the  tender  shoots  first  shew  themselves  in  the  stem 
of  the  fig  tree,  and  the  bud  bursts  into  flower,  and  the  bark 
puts  forth  leaves,  ye  perceive  the  approach  of  summer  and 
the  season  of  spring  and  growth ;  so  when  ye  shall  see  all 


VER.  32 — 35.  ST.  MATTHEW.  829 

these  things  that  are  written,  do  not  suppose  that  the  end  of 
the  world  is  immediate,  but  that  certain  monitory   signs  and 
precursors   are   shewing   its  approach.     CHRYS.  He   shews 
that  the  interval  of  time    shall  not  be    great,  but   that  the 
coming  of  Christ  will  be  presently.     By  the  comparison  of 
the  tree  He  signifies  the  spiritual  summer  and  peace  that  the 
just  shall  enjoy  after  their  winter,  while  sinners  on  the  other 
hand  shall  have  a  winter  after  summer.     ORIGEN  ;  As  the  fig 
has  its  vital  powers  torpid  within  it  through  the  season  of 
winter,  but  when  that  is  past  its  branches  become  tender  by 
those  very  powers  and  put  forth  leaves ;  so  the  world  and  all 
those  who  are  saved  had  before  Christ's   coming  their  vital 
energies  dormant  within  them  as  in  a  season  of  winter.    Christ's 
Spirit  breathing  upon  them  makes  the  branches  of  their  hearts 
soft  and  tender,  and  that  which  was  dormant  within  burgeons 
into  leaf,  and  makes  shew  of  fruit.     To  such  the  summer  and 
the  coming  of  the  glory  of  the  Word  of  God  is  nigh  at  hand. 
CHRYS.  This  analogy  also  adds  credit  to  His  foregoing  dis 
course  ;  for  wherever  He  speaks  of  what  must  by  all  means 
come  to  pass,  Christ  ever  brings  forward  parallel  physical 
laws.     AUG.  That  now  from  the  Evangelic    and  Prophetic  Aug. 
signs    that  we  see   come   to   pass,   we   ought    to   look   that^2p'199> 
the    Lord's    coming    should    be    nigh,    who    is    there    that 
denies  ?     For  daily  it  draws  ever  more  and  more  near,  but  of 
the  exact  time  it  is  said,  //  is  not  for  you  to  know  the  times  Actsi,7. 
or  the  seasons.     See  how  long  ago  the  Apostle  said,  Now  is  'Rom. 
our  salvation  nearer  than  when  we  believed.    What  he  spoke 
was  not  false,  and  yet  how  many  years  have   elapsed,  how 
much  more  may  we  not  say  that  the   Lord's  coming  is  at 
hand  now,  that  so  great  an  accession  of  time  has  been  made  ? 
HILARY;  Mystically;  The  Synagogue  is  likened  to  the  fig 
tree8;    its  branch  is  Antichrist,  the   son  of  the  Devil,  the 
portion  of  sin,  the  maititainer  of  the  law  ;  when  this   shall 
begin  to  swell  and  to  put  forth  leaves,  then  summer  is  nigh, 
i.  e.  the  approach  of  the  day  of  judgment  shall  be  perceived. 
REMIG.  Or,  when  this  fig  shall  again  bud,  that  is,  when  the 
synagogue  shall  receive  the  word  of  holy  preaching,  as  the 
preaching  of  Enoch  and  Elias,  then  we  ought  to  understand 
that  the  day  of  the  consummation  is  at  hand.      AUG.    Or,  by  Aug. 
the   fig  tree   understand  the  human   race,  by  reason   of  the 

8  See  above  on  chap.  xxi.  19. 


830  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

temptations  of  the  flesh.  When  Us  branch  is  tender,  i.  e.  when 
the  sons  of  men  through  faith  in  Christ  have  progressed 
towards  spiritual  fruits,  and  the  honour  of  their  adoption  to  be 
the  sons  of  God  has  shone  forth  in  them. 

HILARY;  To  give  sure  credit  to  the  things  which  should  come 
to  pass  He  adds,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  this  generation  shall 
not  pass  away  until  all  these  things  be  fulfilled.  By  saying 
Verily,  He  gives  asseveration  to  the  truth.  ORIGEN  ;  The  un- 
instructed  refer  the  words  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and 
suppose  them  to  have  been  said  of  that  generation  which  saw 
Christ's  death,  that  it  should  not  pass  away  before  the  city  should 
be  destroyed.  But  I  doubt  that  they  would  succeed  in  thus 
expounding  every  word  from  that,  one  stone  shall  not  be  left 
upon  another,  to  that,  it  is  even  at  the  door ;  in  some  perhaps 
they  would  succeed,  in  others  not  altogether.  CHRYS.  All 
these  things  therefore  mean  what  was  said  of  the  end  of 
Jerusalem,  of  the  false  prophets,  and  the  false  Christs, 
and  all  the  rest  which  shall  happen  down  to  the  time  of 
Christ's  coming.  That  He  said,  This  generation,  He  meant 
not  of  the  men  then  living,  but  of  the  generation  of  the 
faithful ;  for  so  Scripture  uses  to  speak  of  generations,  not  of 
time  only,  but  of  place,  life,  and  conversation;  as  it  is  said, 
Ps.24,6.  Thin  is  the  generation  of  them  that  seek  the  Lord.  Herein 
He  teaches  that  Jerusalem  shall  perish,  and  the  greater  part 
of  the  Jews  be  destroyed,  but  that  no  trial  shall  over 
throw  the  generation  of  the  faithful.  ORIGEN  ;  Yet  shall  the 
generation  of  the  Church  survive  the  whole  of  this  world,  that 
it  may  inherit  the  world  to  come,  yet  it  shall  not  pass  away 
until  all  these  things  have  come  to  pass.  But  when  all  these 
shall  have  been  fulfilled,  then  not  the  earth  only  but  the 
heavens  also  shall  pass  away  ;  that  is,  not  only  the  men 
whose  life  is  earthy,  and  who  are  therefore  called  the  earth, 
but  also  they  whose  conversation  is  in  heaven,  and  who  are 
therefore  called  the  heaven  ;  these  shall  pass  away  to  things 
to  come,  that  they  may  come  to  better  things.  But  the  words 
spoken  by  the  Saviour  shall  not  pass  away,  because  they  effect 
and  shall  ever  effect  their  purpose ;  but  the  perfect  and  they 
that  admit  no  further  improvement,  passing  through  what  they 
are,  come  to  that  which  they  are  not;  and  this  is  that,  My  words 
shall  not  pass  away.  And  perhaps  the  words  of  Moses  and  the 
Prophets  have  passed  away,  because  all  that  they  prophesied  has 


VER.  36 — 41.  ST.  MATTHEW.  831 

been  fulfilled;  but  the  words  of  Christ  are  always  complete,  daily 
fulfilling  and  to  be  fulfilled  in  the  saints.  Or  perhaps  we 
ought  not  to  say  that  the  words  of  Moses  and  the  Prophets 
are  once  for  all  fulfilled ;  seeing  they  also  are  the  words  of 
the  Son  of  God,  and  are  fulfilled  continually.  JEROME;  Or, 
by  generation  here  He  means  the  whole  human  race,  and  the 
Jews  in  particular.  And  He  adds,  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass 
away,  but  my  words  shall  not  pass  away,  to  confirm  their 
faith  in  what  has  gone  before  ;  as  though  He  had  said,  it  is 

.easier  to  destroy  things  solid  and  immovable,  than  that 
aught  should  fail  of  my  words.  HILARY  ;  For  heaven  and 
earth  have  in  their  constitution  no  necessity  of  existence,  but 
Christ's  words  derived  from  eternity  have  in  them  such  virtue 
that  they  must  needs  abide.  JEROME  ;  The  heaven  and  the 
earth  shall  pass  away  by  a  change,  not  by  annihilation ;  for 
how  should  the  sun  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  not  give  her 
light,  if  earth  and  heaven  in  which  these  are  should  be  no 
more  ?  RABAN.  The  heaven  which  shall  pass  away  is  not  the 

.  l  starry  but  the  2 atmospheric  heaven  which  of  old  was  destroyed  'side- 
by  the  deluge.     CHRYS.  He  brings  forward  the  elements  of  the  aaereum 
earth  to  shew  that  the  Church  is  of  more  value  than  either  2Pet-3> 

5. 

heaven  or  earth,  and  that  He  is  Maker  of  all  things. 

36.  But  of  that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man,  no, 
not  the  angels  of  heaven,  but  my  Father  only. 

37.  But  as  the  days  of  Noe  were,  so  shall  also  the 
coming  of  the  Son  of  man  be. 

38.  For  as  in  the  days  that  were  before  the  flood 
they  were  eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and  giving  in 
marriage,  until  the  day  that  Noe  entered  into  the  ark, 

39.  And  knew  not  until  the  flood  came,  and  took 
them  all  away  ;  so  shall  also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of 
man  be. 

40.  Then  shall  two  be  in  the  field  ;  the  one  shall  be 
taken,  and  the  other  left. 

41.  Two  women  shall  be  grinding  at  the  mill;  the 
one  shall  be  taken,  and  the  other  left. 

CHRYS.  The  Lord   having  described  all  the   tokens  that 
shall  precede  His  coming,  and  brought  His  discourse  to  the 


882  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

very  doors,  yet  would  not  name  the  day ;  Of  that  day  and 
hour  knowclh  no  man,  no  not  the  Angels  of  heaven,  but  my 
Father  only.     JEROME;  In  some  Latin  copies  is  added  here, 
"  neither  the  Son :"  but  in  the  Greek  copies,  and  particularly 
those  of  Adamantius  and  Pierius,  it  is  not  found c.    But  because 
it  is  read  in  some,  it  seems  to  require  our  notice.     REMIG. 
Mark     And  Mark  has  the  addition.     JEROME;  Whereat  Arius  and 
Eunomius  rejoice  greatly ;   for  say  they,  He  who  knows  and 
He  who  is  ignorant  cannot  be  both  equal.     Against  these  we 
answer  shortly;  Seeing  that  Jesus,  that  is,  The  Word  of  God, 
John  i,made  all  times,  (for  By  him  all  things  were  made,  and  with- 
3'          out  him  was  not  any  thing  made  that  was  made,)  and  that 
the  day  of  judgment  must  be  in  all  time,  by  what  reasoning 
can  He  who  knows  the  whole  be  shewn  to  be  ignorant  of  a 
part  ?     This  we  will  further  say  ;  Which  is  the  greater,  the 
knowledge  of  the  Father,  or  the  knowledge  of  the  judgment? 
If  He  knows  the  greater,  how  can  He  be  ignorant  of  the  less  ? 
HILARY;  And  has  indeed  God  the  Father  denied  the  knowledge 
Lukeio,  of  that  day  to  the  Son,  when  He  has  declared,  All  things  are 
22'        committed  to  me  of  my  Father?  but  if  any  thing  has  been 
denied,  all  things  are  not  committed  to  Him.  JEROME  ;  Having 
then  shewn  that  the  Son  of  God  cannot  be  ignorant  of  the  day 
of  the  consummation,  we  must  now  shew  a  cause  why  He  should 
be  said  to  be  ignoi'ant.    When  after  the  resurrection  He  is  de 
manded  concerning  this  day  by  the  Apostles,  He  answers  more 
Acts  1,  openly ;   It  is  not  for  you  to  know  the  times  or  the  seasons  which 
the  Father  has  put  in  his  own  power.     Wherein  He  shews  that 
Himself  knows,  but  that  it  was  not  expedient  for  the  Apostles  to 
know,  that  being  in  uncertainty  of  the  coming  of  their  Judge, 
they  should  live  every  day  as  though  they  were  to  be  judged  that 
Aug.  de  (Jay,  AUG.  When  He  says  here,  Knows  not,  He  means, '  makes 
12.         others  not  to  know;'  i.  e.  He  knew  not  then,  so  as  to  tell  His 
Gen. 22,  disciples;    as  it  was  said  to  Abraham,  Now  I  know  that  thou 
Aug.    fearest  God;  i.  e/Nowhave  I  caused  that  thou  shouldest  know,' 
because  by  the  temptation  he  came  to  know  himself.    ID.  That 

h  The  addition  is  found  in  a  very  few  into  the  text  of  the  G.  T.  by  any  editors. 

Greek  MSS.,  and  ancient  versions,  in  It  probably  crept  in  from  the  parallel 

Chrys.  and  Theophylact.     It  is  in  the  passage  in  S.  Mark.     Adamantius  is  a 

Old  Italic  version,  and  is  acknowledged  surname  of    Origen.      Pierius  was   a 

by  Hilary,  Ambrose, and  Pseudo-Chrys.;  presbyter  of    Alexandria  in  the  third 

but  the  preponderance  of  evidence  is  century,  whose  learning  occasioned  him 

greatly  against  it,  and  it  is  not  admitted  to  be  styled  '  Origen  the  younger.' 


VER.  36 41.  ST.  MATTHEW.  838 

He  says  that  the  Father  knoiceih,  implies  that  in  the  Father  the 
Son  also  knows.     For  what  can  there  be  in  time  which  was 
not  made  by  the  Word,  seeing  that  time  itself  was  made  by 
the  Word !     ID.  That  the  Father  alone  knows  may  be  well  Aug. 
understood  in  the  above-mentioned  manner  of  knowing,  thatg^®3 
He  makes  the  Son  to  know ;  but  the  Son  is  said  not  to  know,  q.  60. 
because  he  does  not  make  men  to  know.     ORIGEN  ;  Otherwise ; 
So  long  as  the  Church  which  is  Christ's  body  knows  not  that 
day  and  hour,  so  long  the  Son  Himself  is  said  not  to  know 
that  day  and  hour.     The  word  know  is  used  according  to  its 
proper  usual  meaning  in  Scripture.     The  Apostle  speaks  of 
Christ,  as  him  who  knew  no  sin,  i.  e.  sinned  not.     The  know- 2  Cor. 
ledge  of  that  day  and   hour  the  Son  reserves  in  store  for6'21* 
the  fellow-heirs  of  the  promise,  that  all  may  know  at  once,  i.  e. 
in   the  day  when  it   shall  come   upon  them,   what  things  \  Cor. 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him.     RABAN.  I  have2'  9< 
read  also  in  some  one's  book,  that  the  Son  here  is  not  to  be 
taken  of  the  Only-begotten,  but  of  the  adopted,  for  that  He 
would  not  have  put  the  Angels  before  the  Only-begotten  Son, 
saying,  Not  the  Angels  of  heaven,  neither  the  Son1. 

AUG.  The  Gospel  then  says,  Of  that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  Aug. 
man ;  but  you  say,  That  neither  the  month  nor  the  year  of  His  1(?'      ' 
coming  can  be  known.    This  exactness  of  yours  up  to  this  point 
seems  as  if  you  meant  that  the  year  could  not  be  known,  but 
that  the  week  or  the  decade  of  years  might  be  known,  as 
though  it  was  possible  to  fix  or  assign  it  to  some  seven,  ten, 
or  a  hundred,  or  some  number  of  years  more  or  less.     Tf  you 
allow  that  you  cannot  so  limit  it,  you  think  with  me.     CHRYS. 
That  you  may  perceive  that  it  is  not  owing  to  ignorance  that 
He  is  silent  of  the  day  and  hour  of  the  judgment,  He  brings 
forward  another  token,  As  it  was  in  the  days  of  Noe,  so  shall 
the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  be.     By  this  He  means  that 
He  shall  come  sudden  and  unlocked  for,  and  while  men  are 
taking  their  pleasure;  of  which  Paul  also  speaks,  Wlien  theyi  Thess. 
shall  say,  Peace  and  safety,  then  sudden  destruction  cometh  5' 3' 
upon  them.     RABAN.  Marriage  and  meats  in  themselves  are 
not  here  condemned,  as  the  error  of  Marcion  and  Manichaeus 
teaches;  for  in  the  one  the  continuation  of  the  species,  in  the 

*  See   further  on  this  passage,  Hil.     on    Mark    xiii.    32.   and    Basil    adv. 
de  Trin.  ix.  58,  cited  in  the  Catena     Eunom.  iv. 

3    H 


884  GOSl'EL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

other  that  of  life,  depends  ;  but  what  is  reproved  is  an  unre 
strained  use  of  things  lawful. 

JEROME  ;  It  is  asked  here,  how  it  was  said  above,  Nation 
shall  rise  against  nation,  and  kingdom  against  kingdom^ 
8fc.  when  here  only  tokens  of  peace  are  spoken  of  as  what 
shall  be  then  ?  We  must  suppose,  that  after  the  wars  and 
the  other  miseries  which  shall  waste  the  human  race,  shall 
follow  a  short  peace,  offering  rest  and  quiet  to  approve  the 
faith  of  the  believers.  CHRYS.  Or,  To  such  as  are  thought 
lessly  disposed,  it  shall  be  a  time  of  peace  and  enjoyment ; 
as  the  Apostle  said  not,  '  When  there  shall  be  peace,'  but 
When  they  shall  say,  Peace  and  safety,  shewing  their  in 
sensibility  to  be  such  as  was  theirs  in  the  days  of  Noe,  when 
the  wicked,  and  not  the  good,  indulged  themselves,  but 
their  end  was  sorrow  and  tribulation.  This  shews  also,  that 
when  Antichrist  shall  come,  those  who  are  wicked,  and 
despair  of  their  salvation,  shall  run  into  illicit  pleasures ; 
therefore  He  chooses  an  instance  suitable.  For  while  the 
ark  was  building,  Noe  preached  among  them,  foretelling  the 
evils  that  should  come;  but  those  wicked  giving  no  heed 
to  him,  wantoned  as  though  no  evil  should  ever  come ;  so 
now,  because  many  would  not  believe  things  future,  He 
makes  credible  what  He  says  from  what  has  happened. 
Another  token  He  gives  to  shew  how  unexpectedly  that  day 
shall  come,  and  that  He  is  not  ignorant  of  the  day,  Then 
two  shall  be  in  the  field,  one  shall  be  taken  and  the  other 
left.  These  words  shew  that  masters  and  servants,  they 
that  work,  and  they  that  work  not,  shall  be  taken  or  left  alike. 

HILARY  ;  Or,  the  two  in  the  field,  are  the  two  people  of 
believers  and  unbelievers,  whom  the  day  of  the  Lord 
shall  overtake,  as  it  were  in  the  labours  of  this  life.  And 
they  shall  be  separated,  one  being  taken  and  the  other  left ; 
this  shews  the  separation  that  shall  be  between  believers  and 
unbelievers ;  when  God's  wrath  is  kindled,  the  saints  shall 
be  gathered  into  His  garner,  and  the  unbelievers  shall  be 
left  as  fuel  for  the  fire  from  heaven.  The  same  is  the  account 
to  be  given  of  that,  Two  shall  be  grinding  at  the  mill. 
The  mill  is  the  work  of  the  Law,  but  as  some  of  the  Jews 
believed  through  the  Apostles,  so  some  shall  believe  through 
Elias,  and  be  justified  through  faith;  and  one  part  shall 


VER.  42 44.  ST.  MATTHEW.  835 

be  taken  through  this   same  faith  of  good  works,  the  other 
part  shall  be  left  unfruitful  in  the  work  of  the  Law,  grinding 
in  vain,  and  never  to  produce  the  bread  of  heavenly  food. 
JEROME  ;  Or,  Two  men  in  one  field  shall  be  found  performing 
the  same  labour,  sowing  corn  together,  but  not  reaping  the 
same  fruit  of  their  labour.      The  two  grinding  together  we 
may  understand  either  of  the  Synagogue  and  the  Church, 
which  seem  to  grind  together  in  the  Law,  and  to  make  of 
the  same  Scriptures  meal  of  the  commandments  of  God ; 
or  of  other  heresies,  which  out  of  both  or  one  Testament, 
seem  to  grind  meal  of  their  own  doctrines.     HILARY  ;   The 
two  in  one  bed  are  those  who  preach  alike  the  Lord's  rest 
after  His  passion,  about  which  heretics  and  catholics  have 
the  same  confession  ;  but  because  the  Catholic  Faith  preaches 
the  unity  of  the  Godhead  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  and 
the  false  creed  of  the  heretics  impugns  that,  therefore  shall 
the  Divine  judgment  decide  between  the  confession  of  these 
two  by  taking  one  and  leaving  the  other.     REMIG.  Or,  these 
words  denote  three  orders  in  the  Church.     The  two  men 
in  the  field  denote  the  order  of  preachers,  to  whom  is  com-  pra?dica- 
mitted  the  field  of  the  Church ;    by  the  two  grinding  at  the tores* 
mill,  the  order  of  the  married  priests,  who  while  with  a  divided  conju- 
heart  they  are  called  first  to  one   side,  then  to  the  other, 
do,  as  it  were,  ever  turn  round  a  mill ;    by  the  two  in  one 
bed,  the  order  of  the  continent,  whose  repose  is  signified  by  conti- 
the  bed.     But  in  all  these  orders  are  good  and  bad,  righteous  ne 
and  unrighteous,  so  that  some  shall  be  taken,  and  some  left.' 
ORIGEN  ;    Or  otherwise ;    The  body  is  laid  as  sick  on  the 
bed  of  carnal  passions,  the  soul  grinds  in  the  mill  of  this  world, 
and  the  bodily  senses  labour  in  the  field  of  the  world. 

42.  Watch  therefore :    for  ye  know  not  what  hour 
your  Lord  doth  come. 

43.  But  know  this,   that  if  the   goodman  of  the 
house  had  known   in    what  watch    the    thief  would 
come,  he  would  have  watched,  and  would  not  have 
suffered  his  house  to  be  broken  up. 

44.  Therefore  be  ye  also  ready :    for  in  such  an 
hour  as  ye  think  not  the  Son  of  Man  cometh. 

3  i  2 


836  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAE.  XXIV. 

JEROME  ;  Having  declared  that  of  that  hour  knou-eth  no 
man,  but  the  Father  only,  He  shews  that  it  was  not  expedient 
for  the   Apostles  to  know,  that  being  ignorant  they  might 
live  in  perpetual  expectation  of  His  coming,  and  thus  con 
cluding  the  whole,  He   says,   Watch   therefore,  fyc.     And 
He  does  not  say,  '  Because  we  know  not,'  but  Because  ye 
know  .not,  shewing  that  He  Himself  is  not  ignorant  of  the 
day  of  judgment.     CHRYS.  He  would  have  them  ever  ready, 
Greg,    and  therefore  He  says,  Watch.     GREG.  To  watch  is  to  keep 
in  Ev.    the  eyes  open,  and  looking  out  for  the  true  light,  to  do  and 
"•  3>  to  observe  that  which  one  believes,  to  cast  away  the  darkness 
of  sloth  and  negligence.     ORIGEN  ;    Those  of  more  plain 
understanding  say,  that  He  spoke  this  of  His  second  coming ; 
but  others  would  say  that  it  applies  to  an  intellectual  coming 
of  the  word  into  the  understanding  of  the  disciples,  for  as 
yet  He  was  not  in  their  understanding  as  He  was  to  be. 
Aug.     AUG.    He  said  this    JValc/t,  not  to  those  only  who  heard 

"R*  n    1  QO 

3.  '  Him  speak  at  the  time,  but  to  those  who  came  after  them, 
and  to  us,  and  to  all  who  shall  be  after  us,  until  His  second 
coming,  for  it  touches  all  in  a  manner.  That  day  comes 
to  each  one  of  us,  when  it  comes  to  him  to  go  out  of  the 
world,  such  as  he  shall  be  judged,  and  therefore  ought 
every  Christian  to  watch  that  the  Lord's  coming  may  not 
find  him  unprepared ;  and  he  will  be  unprepared  for  the 
day  of  His  coming,  whom  the  last  day  of  his  life  shall  find 

Aug.     unprepared.     AUG.  Foolish  are  all  they,  who  either  profess 
!C*  to  know  the  day  of  the  end  of  the  world,  when  it  is  to  come, 
or  even  the  end  of  their  own  life,  which  no  one  can  know 
unless  he  is  illuminated  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

JEROME;  And  by  the  instance  of  the  master  of  the 
household,  He  teaches  more  plainly  why  He  keeps  secret 
the  day  of  the  consummation.  OKIGEN;  The  master  of  the 
household  is  the  understanding,  the  house  is  the  soul,  the 
thief  is  the  Devil.  The  thief  is  also  every  contrary  doctrine 
which  enters  the  soul  of  the  unwary  by  other  than  the 
natural  entrance,  breaking  into  the  house,  and  pulling 
down  the  soul's  natural  fences,  that  is,  the  natural  powers 
of  understanding,  it  enters  the  breach,  and  spoils  the 
soul.  Sometimes  one  takes  the  thief  in  the  act  of 
breaking  in,  and  seizing  him,  stabs  him  with  a  word, 


VEK.  45 — 51.  ST.  MATTHEW.  837 

and  slays  him.     And  the  thief  comes  not  in  the  day-time, 
when  the   soul   of  the  thoughtful   man   is  illuminated  with 
the  Sun  of  lighteousness,  but  in  the  night,  that  is,  in  the 
time  of  prevailing  wickedness ;  in  which,  when  one  is  plunged, 
it  is  possible,  though  he   have   not  the  power  of  the  sun, 
that  he  may  be  illuminated  by  some  rays  from  the  Word, 
as  from  a  lamp ;    continuing  still  in  evil,  yet  having  a  better 
purpose,   and   watchfulness,   that   this   his   purpose   should 
not  be  broken  through.     Or  in  time  of  temptation,  or  of 
any  calamities,  is  the  time  when  the   thief  is   most  found 
to  come,  seeking  to  break  through  the  house  of  the  soul. 
GREG.    Or,  the   thief  breaks   into   the   house   through   the  Greg, 
neglect  of  the  master  of  the  house,  when  the  spirit  has  slept  ?(S1" 
upon  its  post  of  guard,  and   death  has   come  in  unawares  xiii.  5. 
into  the  dwelling  house  of  our  flesh,  and  finding  the  lord 
of  the  house  sleeping,  slays  him  ;    that  is,  the  spirit,  little 
providing  for  coming  evils,  is  taken  off  unprepared,  to  punish 
ment,  by  death.     But  if  he  had  watched  he  would  have  been 
secure  from  the  thief;  that  is,  looking  forward  to  the  coming 
of  the  Judge,  who  takes  our  lives  unawares,  he  would  meet 
Him  with  penitence,  and  not  perish  impenitent.     And  the 
Lord  would  therefore  have  the  last  hour  unknown,  that  it 
might  always  be  in  suspense,  and  that  being  unable  to  foresee 
it,  we  might  never  be  unprepared  for   it.     CHRYS.  In  this 
He  rebukes  such  as  have  less  care  for  their  souls,  than  they 
have  of  guarding  their  money  against  an  expected  thief. 

45.  Who  then  is  a  faithful  and  wise  servant,  whom 
his  lord  hath  made  ruler  over  his  houshold,  to  give 
them  meat  in  due  season? 

46.  Blessed  is  that  servant,  whom  his  lord  when  he 
cometh  shall  find  so  doing. 

47.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  That  he  shall  make  him 
ruler  over  all  his  goods. 

48.  But  and  if  that  evil  servant  shall  say  in  his 
heart,  My  lord  delayeth  his  coming; 

49.  And  shall  begin  to  smite  his  fellowservants,  and 
to  eat  and  drink  with  the  drunken; 


838  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

50.  The  lord  of  that  servant  shall  come  in  a  day 
when  he  looketh  not  for  him,  and  in  an  hour  that  he 
is  not  aware  of, 

51.  And  shall  cut  him  asunder,  and  appoint  him 
his  portion  with  the  hypocrites:  there  shall  be  weep 
ing  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 

HILARY  ;  Though  the  Lord  had  given  above  a  general  ex 
hortation  to  all  in  common  to  unwearied  vigilance,  yet  He 
adds  a  special  charge  to  the  rulers  of  the  people,  that  is,  the 
Bishops,  of  watchfulness  in  looking  for  His  coming.  Such 
He  calls  a  faithful  servant,  and  wise  master  of  the  household, 
careful  for  the  needs  and  interests  of  the  people  entrusted 
to  Him.  CHRYS.  That  He  says,  Whom  think  ye  is  that 
faithful  and  wise  servant,  does  not  imply  ignorance,  for  even 

Gen.  3,  the  Father  we  find  asking  a  question,  as  that,  Adam,  where 
art  thou  f  REMIG.  Nor  yet  does  it  imply  the  impossibility  of 

Gloss,  attaining  perfect  virtue,  but  only  the  difficulty.  GLOSS.  For  rare 
indeed  is  such  faithful  servant  serving  his  Master  for  his  Mas 
ter's  sake,  feeding  Christ's  sheep  not  for  lucre  but  for  love  of 
Christ,  skilled  to  discern  the  abilities,  the  life,  and  the  man 
ner  of  those  put  under  him,  whom  the  Lord  sets  over,  that  is, 
who  is  called  of  God,  and  has  not  thrust  himself  in.  CHRYS. 
He  requires  two  things  of  such  servant,  fidelity  and  prudence; 
He  calls  h\m  faithful,  because  he  appropriates  to  himself  none 
of  his  Lord's  goods,  and  wastes  nought  idly  and  unprofitably. 
He  calls  him  prudent,  as  knowing  on  what  he  ought  to  lay 
out  the  things  committed  to  him.  ORIGEN  ;  Or,  he  that  makes 
progress  in  the  faith,  though  he  is  not  yet  perfect  in  it,  is  ordi 
narily  called  faithful,  and  he  who  has  natural  quickness  of 
intellect  is  called  prudent.  And  whoever  observes  will 
find  many  faithful,  and  zealous  in  their  belief,  but  not  at  the 

1  Cor.    same  time  prudent ;  for  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of 

lf  the  world.  Others  again  he  will  see  who  are  quick  and  prudent 
but  of  weak  faith;  for  the  union  of  faith  and  prudence  in  the 
same  man  is  most  rare.  To  give  food  in  due  season  calls  for 
prudence  in  a  man ;  not  to  take  away  the  food  of  the  needy  re 
quires  faithfulness.  And  this  the  literal  sense  obliges  us  to,  that 
we  be  faithful  in  dispersing  the  revenues  of  the  Church,  that  we 


VER.  43 51.  ST.    MATTHEW.  839 

devour  not  that  which  belongs  to  the  widows,  that  we  remem 
ber  the  poor,  and  that  we  do  not  take  occasion  from  what  is 
written,  The  Lord  hath  ordained,  that  they  which  preach  thel  Cor. 
Gospel  should  live  of  the  Gospel,  to  seek  more  than  plain  food  ' 
and  necessary  clothing,  or  to  keep  more  for  ourselves  than  we 
give  to  those  who  suffer  want.  And  that  we  be  prudent,  to 
understand  the  cases  of  them  that  are  in  need,  whence  they 
come  to  be  so,  what  has  been  the  education  and  what  are  the 
necessities  of  each.  It  needs  much  prudence  to  distribute 
fairly  the  revenues  of  the  Church.  Also  let  the  servant  be 
faithful  and  prudent,  that  he  lavish  not  the  intellectual  and 
spiritual  food  upon  those  whom  he  ought  not,  but  dispense 
according  as  each  has  need;  to  one  is  more  behoveful  that 
word  which  shall  edify  his  behaviour,  and  guide  his  practice, 
than  that  which  sheds  a  ray  of  science ;  but  to  others  who 
can  pierce  more  deeply  let  him  not  fail  to  expound  the  deeper 
things,  lest  if  he  set  before  them  common  things  only,  he  be 
despised  by  such  as  have  naturally  keener  understandings,  or 
have  been  sharpened  by  the  discipline  of  worldly  learning. 

CHRYS.  This  parable  may  be  also  fitted  to  the  case  of  se 
cular  rulers;  for  each  ought  to  employ  the  things  he  has  to 
the  common  benefit,  and  not  to  the  hurt  of  his  fellow-servants, 
nor  to  his  own  ruin ;  whether  it  be  wisdom  or  dominion,  or 
whatever  else  he  has.  RABAN.  The  lord  is  Christ,  the  house 
hold  over  which  He  appoints  is  the  Church  Catholic.  It  is 
hard  then  to  find  one  man  who  is  \>o\h  faithful  and  wise,  but 
not  impossible ;  for  He  would  not  pronounce  a  blessing  on  a 
character  that  could  never  be,  as  when  He  adds,  Blessed  is 
that  servant  whom  his  lord  when  he  cometh  shall  find 
so  doing.  HILARY  ;  That  is,  obedient  to  his  Lord's  command, 
by  the  seasonableness  of  his  teaching  dispensing  the  word  of 
life  to  a  household  which  is  to  be  nourished  for  the  food  of 
eternity.  REMIG.  It  should  be  observed,  that  as  there  is 
great  difference  of  desert  between  good  preachers  and  good 
hearers,  so  is  there  great  difference  between  their  rewards. 
The  good  hearers,  if  He  finds  them  watching  He  will  make 
to  sit  down  to  meat,  as  Luke  speaks ;  but  the  good  preachers 
He  will  set  over  all  His  goods.  ORIGEN  ;  That  he  may  reign 
with  Christ,  to  whom  the  Father  has  committed  all  that  is  His. 
And  as  the  son  of  a  good  father  set  over  all  that  is  his, 


840  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXIV. 

He  shall  communicate  of  His  dignity  and  glory  to  His  faithful 
and  wise  stewards,  that  they  also  may  be  above  the  whole 
creation.  RABAN.  Not  that  they  only,  but  that  they  before 
otbers,  shall  be  rewarded  as  well  for  their  own  lives  as  for  their 
superintendence  of  the  flock.  HILARY;  Or,  shall  set  him 
overall  his  goods,  that  is,  shall  place  him  in  the  glory  of  God, 
because  beyond  this  is  nothing  better.  CHRYS.  And  He  in 
structs  His  hearer  not  only  by  the  honour  which  awaits  the 
good,  but  by  the  punishment  which  threatens  the  wicked, 

AuS-      adding,  If  that  evil  servant  shall  say  in  his  heart,  fyc.    AUG. 

i.  '  The  temper  of  this  servant  is  shewn  in  his  behaviour,  which  is 
thus  expressed  by  his  good  Master ;  his  tyranny,  and  shall 
begin  to  beat  his  fellow  servants,  his  sensuality,  and  to  eat 
and  drink  with  the  drunken.  So  that  when  he  said,  My 
Lord  delayeth  His  coming,  he  is  not  to  be  supposed  to  speak 
from  desire  to  see  the  Lord,  such  as  was  that  of  him  who 

Ps.42,2.  said,  My  soul  is  athirstfor  the  living  God;  tchen  shall  I 
come  ?  This  shews  that  he  was  grieved  at  the  delay,  seeing 
that  what  was  hastening  towards  him  seemed  to  his  longing 
desires  to  be  coming  slowly.  ORIGEN  ;  And  every  Bishop, 
who  ministers  not  as  a  fellow  servant,  but  rules  by  might  as 
a  master,  and  often  an  harsh  one,  sins  against  G  od ;  also  if  he 
does  not  cherish  the  needy,  but  feasts  with  the  drunken,  and 
is  continually  slumbering  because  his  Lord  cometh  not  till 
after  long  time.  RABAN.  Typically,  we  may  understand 
his  beating  his  fellow  servants,  of  offending  the  consciences 
of  the  weak  by  word,  or  by  evil  example.  JEROME  ;  The 
Lord  of  that  servant  shall  come  in  a  day  when  he  looketh 
not  for  Him,  is  to  rouse  the  stewards  to  watchfulness  and 
carefulness.  He  shall  cut  him  in  sunder,  is  not  to  be  under 
stood  of  execution  by  the  sword,  but  that  he  shall  sever  him 
from  the  company  of  the  saints.  ORIGEN  ;  Or,  He  shall  cut 
him  in  sunder,  when  his  spirit,  that  is,  his  spiritual  gift,  shall 
return  to  God  who  gave  it ;  but  his  soul  shall  go  with  his 
body  into  hell.  But  the  righteous  man  is  not  cut  in  sunder,  but 
his  soul,  with  his  spirit,  that  is,  with  his  gift,  spiritual  enters 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  They  that  are  cut  in  sunder 
have  in  them  thenceforth  no  part  of  that  spiritual  gift  which 
was  from  God,  but  there  remains  to  them  that  part  which  was 
their  own,  that  is,  their  soul,  which  shall  be  punished  with 


VER.  43 51.  ST.  MATTHEW.  841 

their  body.     JEROME;  And  shall  appoint  him  his  port  ion  with 
the  hypocrites,  with  those,  namely,  that  were  in  the  field,  and 
grinding  at  the  mill,  and  were  nevertheless  left.     For  as  we 
often  say  that  the  hypocrite  is  one  who  is  one  thing,  and 
passes  himself  for  another;  so  in  the  field  and  at  the  mill  he 
seemed  to  be  doing  the  same  as  others,  but  the  event  proved 
that  his  purpose  was  different.     RABAN.  Or,  appoints  him  his 
portion  with  the  hypocrites,  that  is,  a  twofold  share  of  punish 
ment,  that  of  fire  and  frost ;  to  the  fire  belongs  the  weeping, 
to  the  frost  the  gnashing  of  teeth*.     ORIGEN  ;  Or,  there  shall 
be  weeping  for  such  as  have  laughed  amiss  in  this  world, 
gnashing  of  teeth  for  those  who  have  enjoyed  an  irrational 
peace.     For  being  unwilling  to  suffer  bodily  pain,  now  the 
torture  forces  their  teeth  to  chatter,  with   which  they  have 
eaten  the  bitterness  of  wickedness.     From  this  we  may  learn 
that  the  Lord  sets  over  His  household  not  the  faithful  and 
wise  only,  but  the  wicked  also ;  and  that  it  will  not  save  them 
to  have  been  set  over  His  household,  but  only  if  they  have  given 
them  their  food  in  due  season,  and  have  abstained  from  beat 
ing   and   drunkenness.      AUG.    Putting    aside    this    wicked  Aug. 
servant,  who,  there  is  no  doubt,  hates  his  Master's  coming,  let?p^199 
us  set  before  our  eyes  these  good  servants,  who  anxiously 
expect   their   Lord's   coming.     One   looks   for   His  coming 
sooner,  another  later,  the  third  confesses  his  ignorance  of  the 
matter.     Let  us  see  which  is  most  agreeable  to  the  Gospel. 
One  says,  Let  us  watch  and  pray,  because  the  Lord  will  quickly 
come ;    another,  Let  us  watch  and  pray,  because  this  life  is 
short  and  uncertain,  though  the  Lord's  coming  may  be  distant; 
and  the  third,  Let  us  watch,  because  this  life  is  short  and  un 
certain,  and  we  know  not  the  time  when  the  Lord  will  come. 
What  else  does  this  man  say  than  what  we  hear  the  Gospel 
say,  Watch,  because  ye  know  not  the  hour  in  which  the  Lord 
shall  come  ?     All  indeed,  through  longing  for  the  kingdom, 
desire   that  that  should  be  true  which  the  first  thinks,  and 
if  it  should  so   come  to  pass,  the  second  and  third  would 
rejoice  with  him;  but  if  it  should  not  come  to  pass,  it  were  to 
be  feared  that  the  belief  of  its  supporters  might  be  shaken  by 
the   delay,  and  they  might  begin  to  think  that  the  Lord's 

k  See  above  on  chap.  viii.  12. 


842 


GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  MATTHEW.       CHAP.  XXIV. 


coming  shall  be,  not  remote,  but  never.  He  who  believes  with 
the  second  that  the  Lord's  coming  is  distant  will  not  be  shaken 
in  faith,  but  will  receive  an  unlocked  for  joy.  He  who  con 
fesses  his  ignorance  which  of  these  is  true,  wishes  for  the  one, 
is  resigned  to  the  other,  but  errs  in  neither,  because  he  neither 
affirms  or  denies  either. 


CHAP.  XXV. 

1.  Then  shall  the  kingdom  of  heaven  be  likened 
unto  ten  virgins,  which  took  their  lamps,  and  went 
forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom. 

2.  And  five  of  them  were  wise,  and  five  were  foolish. 

3.  They  that  were    foolish  took  their  lamps,  and 
took  no  oil  with  them  : 

4.  But  the  wise  took  oil  in  their  vessels  with  their 
lamps. 

5.  While  the  bridegroom  tarried,  they  all  slumbered 
and  slept. 

6.  And  at  midnight  there  was  a  cry  made,  Behold, 
the  bridegroom  cometh  ;  go  ye  out  to  meet  him. 

7.  Then  all  those  virgins  arose,  and  trimmed  their 
lamps. 

8.  And  the  foolish  said  unto  the  wise,  Give  us  of 
your  oil  ;  for  our  lamps  are  gone  out. 

9.  But   the    wise    answered    saying,  Not  so  ;    lest 
there  be  not  enough  for  us  and  you  :  but  go  ye  rather 
to  them  that  sell,  and  buy  for  yourselves. 

10.  And  while  they  went  to  buy,  the  bridegroom 
came  ;  and  they  that  were  ready  went  in  with  him 
to  the  marriage  :  and  the  door  was  shut. 

11.  Afterward  came  also  the  other  virgins,  saying, 
Lord,  Lord,  open  to  us. 

12.  But  he  answered  and  said,  Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  I  know  you  not. 

13.  Watch  therefore,  for  ye  know  neither  the  day 
nor  the  hour  wherein  the  Son  of  man  cometh. 


CHRYS.  In  the  foregoing  parable  the  Lord  set  forth 
punishment  of  the  man  who  beat,  and  was  drunk,  and  wasted  l«viii. 


844  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV. 

his  Lord's  goods ;  in  this  He  declares  his  punishment  who 
profits   not,   and   does   not  prepare  for  himself  abundantly 
the  things  of  which  he  has  need ;  for  the  foolish  virgins  had 
oil,  but  not  enough.     HILARY;    Then,  because  all  this  dis 
course  is  concerning  the  great  day  of  the  Lord,  concerning 
Greg,    which  He  had  been  speaking  before.     GREG.  By  the  kingdom 
^m^  of  heaven  is  meant  the  present  Church,  as  in  that,  The  Son  of 
i.          Man  shall  send  forth  his  angels,  and  tJiey  shall  gather  out 
13,41.   of  his  kingdom  all  things  that  offend.     JEROME;  This  parable 
of  the  ten  foolish  and  the  ten  wise  virgins,  some  interpret 
literally   of  virgins,   of  whom   there   are   according  to   the 
i  Cor.    Apostle  some  who  are  virgins  both  in  body  and  in  thought, 
others  who   have  preserved  indeed  their  bodies  virgin,  but 
have   not  the   other   deeds  of  virgins,   or  have   only  been 
preserved  by  the  guardianship  of  parents,  but  have  wedded 
in  their  hearts.     But  from  what  has  gone  before,  £  think  the 
meaning  to  be  different,  and  that  the  parable  has  reference 
Greg,    not  to  virgins  only,  but  to  the  whole  human  race.     GREG. 
ubi  sup.  por  m  eacj1  of  the  £ve  senses  of  the  body  there  is  a  double 

instrument,  and  the  number  five  doubled  makes  ten.  And 
because  the  company  of  the  faithful  is  gathered  out  of  both 
sexes,  the  Holy  Church  is  described  as  being  like  to  ten 
virgins,  where  as  bad  are  mixed  with  good,  and  reprobate 
with  elect,  it  is  like  a  mixture  of  wise  and  foolish  virgins. 
CHRYS.  And  He  employs  the  character  virgins  in  tliis  parable 
to  shew,  that  though  virginity  be  a  great  thing,  yet  if  it  be 
not  accompanied  by  works  of  mercy,  it  shall  be  cast  out  with 
the  adulterers.  ORIGEN  ;  Or,  The  understandings  of  all  who 
have  received  the  word  of  God  are  virgins.  For  such  is  the 
word  of  God,  that  of  its  purity  it  imparts  to  all,  who  by  its 
teaching  have  departed  from  the  worship  of  idols,  and  have 
through  Christ  drawn  near  to  the  worship  of  God ;  Which 
took  their  lamps,  and  went  forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom  and 
the  bride*.  They  take  their  lamps,  i.  e.  their  natural  faculties, 
and  go  forth  out  of  the  world  and  its  errors,  and  go  to  meet 
the  Saviour,  who  is  ever  ready  to  come  to  enter  with  them 
that  are  worthy  to  His  blessed  bride  the  Church.  HILARY  ; 
Or,  The  bridegroom  and  the  bride  represent  our  Lord  God  in 
the  body,  for  the  flesh  is  the  bride  of  the  spirit.  The  lamps  are 
the  light  of  bright  souls  which  shine  forth  in  the  sacrament  of 
a  '  Et  sponsse'  Vnlg.  and  so  a  few  Greek  MSS. 


ST.   MATTHEW.  845 

baptism b.    AUG.  Or,  The  lamps  which  they  carry  in  their  hands  Aug. 
are  their  works,  of  which  it  was  said  above,  Let  your  works  Qualgt. 
shine  before  men.     ORIGEN;  They  that  believe  rightly,  and  q-  59- 
live  righteously,  are  likened  to  the  five  wise  ;    the}*  that  pro-  16a  ' 
fess  the  faith  of  Jesus,  but  prepare  themselves  not  by  good 
works  to  salvation,  are  likened  to  the  five  foolish.     JEROME  ; 
For  there   are   five  senses  which  hasten    towards  heavenly 
things,  and  seek  after  things  above.     Of  sight,  hearing,  and 
touch,  it  is  specially  said,  Tliat  which  we  have  heard,  which  1  John 
we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  and  our  hands  have  handled.   '   ' 
Of  taste,  Taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good.     Of  smell,  Ps.34,8. 
Because  of  the  savour  of  thy  good  ointments.      There  are  g°n'gj  1? 
also  other  five  senses  which  gape  after  earthly  husks.     AUG.  3- 
Or,  by  the  five   virgins,  is  denoted  a  five-fold  continence  ubi  sup. 
from  the  allurements   of  the  flesh ;   for  our  appetite  must 
be  held  from  gratification  of  the  eyes,  ears,  smell,  taste,  and 
touch.     And  as  this  continence  may  be  done  before  God, 
to  please  Him  in  inward  joy  of  the  conscience,  or  before 
men  only  to  gain  applause  of  men,  five  are  called  wise,  and 
five  foolish.     Both  are  virgins,  because  both  these  men  ex 
ercise  continence,  though  from  different  motives.     ORIGEN  ; 
And  because  the  virtues  are  so  linked  together,  that  he  who 
has  one  has  all,  so  all  the  senses  so  follow  one  another,  that 
all  must  be  wise,  or  all  foolish.     HILARY  ;  Or,  The  five  wise 
and  five  foolish  are  an  absolute  distinction  between  believers 
and  unbelievers.     GREG.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  all  have  Greg, 
lamps,  but  all  have  not  oil.     HILARY;   The  oil  is  the  fruit ubl  sup* 
of  good  works,  the  vessels  are  the  human  bodies  in  whose 
inward  parts  the  treasure  of  a  good  conscience  is  to  be  laid 
up.     JEROME  ;    The   virgins   that   have   oil   are   they  who, 
besides  their  faith,  have  the  ornament  of  good  works ;   they 
that  have  not  oil,  are  they  that  seem  to  confess  with  like 
faith,  but  neglect  the  works  of  virtue.     AUG.    Or,  The  oil  Aug. 
denotes  joy,  according   to   that,  God  hath   anointed   th 
with  the  oil  of  gladness.     He  then  whose  joy  springs  not 
from  this  that  he  is  inwardly  pleasing  to  God,  has  no  oil 
with  him  ;  for  they  have  no  gladness  in  their  continent  lives, 

b  Alluding  to  the  term?  (furiffiti  and     designated.   S.     Cyr.   Cat.     Oxf.    Tr. 
illuminatio,    by    which    Baptism    was    p.  1. 


846  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV. 

save  in  the  praises  of  men.     But  the  wise  took  oil  with  their 
lamps,  that  is,  the  gladness  of  good  works,  in  their  vessels, 
that  is,  they  stored  it  in  their  heart  and  conscience,  as  the 
Gal.6,4.  Apostle  speaks,  Let  every  man  prove  himself,  and  then  shall 
he  have  rejoicing  in  himself,  and  not  in  another.     CHRYS. 
Or,  The  oil  denotes  charity,  alms,  and  every  aid  rendered  to  the 
needy  ;  the  lamps  denote  the  gifts  of  virginity  ;  and  He  calls 
ihewfoolish,  because  after  having  gone  through  the  greater  toil, 
they  lost  all  for  the  sake  of  a  less ;    for  it  is  greater  labour 
to  overcome  the  desires  of  the  flesh  than  of  money.     ORIGEN  ; 
Or,  The  oil  is  the  word  of  teaching,  with  which  the  vessels 
of  souls  are  filled  ;   for  what  gives  so  great  content  as  moral 
discourse,  which  is  called  the  oil  of  light.     The  wise  took  with 
them  of  this  oil,  as  much  as  would  suffice,  though  the  Word 
should  tarry  long,  and  be  slack  to  come  to  their  consum 
mation.     The  foolish  took  lamps,  alight  indeed  at  the  first, 
but  not  supplied  with  so  much  oil   as  should  suffice  even 
to  the  end,  being  careless  respecting  the  provision  of  doctrine 
which  comforts  faith,  and  enlightens  the  lamp  of  good  deeds. 
Aug.     AUG.  For  there  die  of  both  kinds  of  men  in  this  interval  of 
sup.  jjme  Before  the  resurrection  of  the   dead,  and   the  Lord's 
Greg,    coming  shall  be.     GREG.  To    sleep   is  to  die,  to   slumber 
sup-  kefore  sieep  is  to  faint  from  salvation  before  death,  because, 
by  the  burden  of  sickness  we  come  to  the  sleep  of  death. 
JEROME  ;   Or,  They  slumbered,  i.  e.  they  were  dead.     And 
then  follows,  And  slept,  because  they  were  to  be  afterwards 
wakened.       While   the   bridegroom    tarried,  shews    that  no 
little  time  intervened  between  the  Lord's  first  and  second 
coming.     ORIGEN  ;   Or,  Whilst  the  bridegroom  tarried,  and 
the  Word  comes  not  speedily  to  the  consummation  of  this 
life,  the  senses  suffer,  slumbering  and  moving  in  the  night 
of  the  world ;   and  sleep,  as  energizing  feebly,  and  with  no 
quick  sense.     Yet  did  those  wise  virgins  not  quit  their  lamps, 
nor  despair  of  hoarding  their  oil.     JEROME  ;  The  Jews  have 
a  tradition  that  Christ  will  come  at  midnight,  in  like  manner 
as  in  that  visitation  of  Egypt,  when  the  Paschal  feast  is 
celebrated,  and  the   destroyer  comes,  and  the  Lord  passes 
over  our  dwellings,  and  the  door  posts  of  each  man's  counte 
nance  are  hallowed  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.     Hence,  I 
suppose,  has  continued  among  us  that  apostolic  tradition, 


VER.   1  -  13.  ST.  MATTHEW.  847 

that  on  the  vigil  of  Easter0  the  people  should  not  be  dismissed 
before  midnight,  in  expectation  of  Christ's  coming;  but 
when  that  hour  has  past  over,  they  may  celebrate  the  feast 
in  security;  whence  also  the  Psalmist  says,  At  midnight  Pa.  U9, 
did  I  rise  to  praise  thee.  AUG.  Or,  At  midnight,  that  is,  A^ 
when  none  knew  or  looked  for  it.  JEROME  ;  Suddenly  thus,  ubi  sup. 
as  on  a  stormy  night,  and  when  all  think  themselves  secure, 
at  the  hour  when  sleep  is  the  deepest,  the  coming  of  Christ 
shall  be  proclaimed  by  the  shout  of  Angels,  and  the  trumpets 
of  the  Powers  that  go  before  Him.  This  is  meant  when  it 
says,  Lo,  the  bridegroom  cometh,  go  ye  out  to  meet  him. 
HILARY  ;  At  the  trumpet  signal  they  go  forth  to  meet  the 
bridegroom  alone,  for  then  shall  the  two  be  one,  that  is,  the 
flesh  and  God,  when  the  lowliness  of  the  flesh  shall  be  trans 
formed  into  spiritual  glory.  AUG.  Or,  that  the  virgins  go  Aug. 
forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom  alone,  I  think  is  to  be  under-  u 
stood  that  the  virgins  themselves  constitute  her  who  is  called 
the  bride;  as  we  speak  of  the  Christians  flocking  to  the  Church 
as  children  running  to  their  mother,  and  yet  this  same  mother 
consists  only  of  the  children  who  are  gathered  together.  For 
now  the  Church  is  betrothed,  and  is  to  be  led  forth  as  a  virgin  to 
the  marriage,  which  takes  place  then  when  all  her  mortal  part 
having  past  away,  she  may  be  held  in  an  eternal  union.  ORIGEN; 
Or,  At  midnight,  that  is,  at  the  time  of  their  most  abandoned 
carelessness,  there  was  a  great  cry,  of  the  Angels,  I  suppose, 
desiring  to  arouse  all  men,  those  ministering  spirits  crying 
within  in  the  senses  of  all  that  sleep,  Behold,  the  bridegroom 
cometh,  go  ye  out  to  meet  him.  All  heard  this  summons, 
and  arose,  but  all  were  not  able  to  trim  their  lamps  fitly. 
The  lamps  of  the  senses  are  trimmed  by  evangelical  and 
right  use  of  them  ;  and  they  that  use  their  senses  amiss 
have  their  lamps  untrimmed.  GREG.  Or,  All  the  virgins  arose,  Greg. 


ubi  sup. 


c  "  This  day  was  kept  an  universal  observed  it  on  a  double  account.     Lac- 

fast  over  the  whole  Church.     And  they  tautius,  (vii.    19.)   says,  '  This  is  the 

continued  it  not  only  till  evening,  but  night  which  we  observe,  with  a  per- 

till  cockcrowing  in  the  morning.     The  noctation  for  the  Advent  of  our  King 

night  was  spent  in  a  Vigil,  or  Pernoc-  and   God;    of  which  there  is  a  two- 

tation,  when  they  assembled  together  fold  reason   to  be  given  ;    because    in 

to  perform  all  parts  of  Divine  service,  this  night  our  Lord  was  raised  to  life 

There  is  frequent  mention  made  of  this  again  after  His  Passion  ;    and  in  the 

in  ancient  writers,  Chrysostom,  (Horn,  same  He  is  expected  to  return  to  re- 

30-  in  Gen.)  Epiphanius,  (Exp.  fid.  n.  ceive    the  kingdom   of    the    world.'" 

22.)    and  many   others.      Particularly  Bingham's  Antiquities,  xxi.  1.  32. 
Lactantius  and  S.  Jerome  tell  us  they 


848  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV. 

that  is,  both  elect  and  reprobate  are  roused  from  the  sleep 
of  death  ;  they  trimmed  their  lamps,  that  is,  they  reckon  up 
to  themselves  their  works  for  which  they  look  to  receive 

Aug.     eternal  blessedness.     AUG.  They  trimmed  their  lamps,  that 

8up'  is,  prepared  to  give  an  account  of  their  deeds.     HILARY  ; 

Or,  the  trimming  their  lamps  is  the  return  of  their  souls  into 

their  bodies,  and  their  light  is  the  consciousness  of  good 

works  that  shines  forth,  which  is  contained  in  the  vessels 

Greg,  of  the  body.  GREG.  The  lamps  of  the  foolish  virgins  go 
8up'  out,  because  the  works  which  appeared  outwardly  to  men 
to  be  bright,  are  dimmed  within  at  the  coming  of  the  Judge. 
That  they  then  beg  oil  of  the  wise  virgins,  what  is  it  but 
that  at  the  coining  of  the  Judge,  when  they  find  themselves 
empty  within,  they  seek  for  witness  from  without  ?  As 
though  deceived  by  their  own  self-confidence,  they  say  to 
their  neighbours,  Whereas  ye  see  us  rejected  as  living  with 
out  works,  do  ye  witness  to  our  works  that  ye  have  seen. 

Aug.      AUG.   From  habit,  the  mind  seeks  that  which  uses  to  give 

u  i  sup.  .j.  pieasure  And  these  now  seek  from  men,  who  see  not 
the  heart,  witness  to  God,  who  sees  the  heart.  But  their 
lamps  go  out,  because  those,  whose  good  works  rest  upon 
the  testimony  of  others,  when  that  is  withdrawn,  sink  into 
nothing.  JEROME  ;  Or,  These  virgins  who  complain  that  their 
lamps  are  gone  out,  shew  that  they  are  partially  alight,  yet 
have  they  not  an  unfailing  light,  nor  enduring  works.  Whoso 
then  has  a  virgin  soul,  and  is  a  lover  of  chastity,  ought  not 
to  rest  content  with  such  virtues  as  quickly  fade,  and  are 
withered  away  when  the  heat  comes  upon  them,  but  should 
follow  after  perfect  virtues,  that  he  may  have  an  enduring 
light.  £HRYS.  Or  otherwise  ;  These  virgins  were  foolish, 
not  only  because  they  departed  hence,  lacking  store  of  mercy, 
but  because  they  deemed  to  receive  it  from  those  of  whom 
they  importunately  begged  it.  For  though  nothing  could 
be  more  merciful  than  those  wise  virgins,  who  for  this  very 
mercifulness  were  approved,  yet  would  they  not  grant  the 
prayer  of  the  foolish  virgins.  But  the  wise  answered,  saying, 
Not  so,  lest  there  be  not  enough  for  us  and  you  ;  hence 
we  learn  that  none  of  us  shall  be  able  in  that  day  to  stand 
v-  forth  as  patron 1  of  those  who  are  betrayed  by  their  own  works, 
not  because  he  will  not,  but  because  he  cannot.  JEROME  ; 
For  these  wise  virgins  do  not  answer  thus  out  of  covetousness, 


VER.   1 — 13.  ST.  MATTHEW.  849 

but   out  of  fear.     Wherefore,  each  man    shall   receive  the 
recompense  of  his  own  works,  and  the  virtues  of  one  can 
not  atone  for  the  vices  of  another  in  the  day  of  judgment. 
The  wise  admonish  them  not  to  go  to  meet  the  bridegroom 
without  oil,  Go  ye  rather  to  them  that  sell,  and  buy  for  your 
selves.     HILARY  ;   They  that  sell  are  the  poor,  who,  needing 
the  alms  of  the  faithful,  made  them  that  recompense  which 
they  desire,  selling  in  return  for  the  relief  afforded  to  their 
wants,  a  consciousness  of  good  works.     This  is  the  abundant 
fuel  of  an  undying  light  which  may  be  bought  and  stored 
up  for   the   fruits   of  mercy.     CHRYS.    You   see   then  how 
great  merchants  the  poor  are  to  us;   but  the  poor  are  not 
there,  but  here,  and  therefore  we  must  store  up  oil  here,  that 
we  may  have  it  to  use  there  when  occasion  shall  require. 
JEROME  ;   And  this  oil  is  sold,  and  at  a  high  cost,  nor  is  it 
to  be  got  without  much  toil ;    so  that  we  understand  it  not 
of  alms  only,  but  of  all  virtues  and  counsels  of  the  teachers. 
ORIGEN  ;    Otherwise ;    Notwithstanding  they  were   foolish, 
they  yet  understood  that  they  must  have  light  to  go  and 
meet  the  bridegroom,  that  all  the  lights  of  their  senses  might 
be  burning.     This  also  they  discerned,  that  because  they  had 
little  of  the  spiritual  oil,  their  lamps  would  burn  dim  as 
darkness  drew  on.     But  the  wise  send  the  foolish  to  those 
that  sell,  seeing  that  they  had  not  stored  up  so  much  oil, 
that  is,  word  of  doctrine,  as  would  suffice  both  for  themselves 
to  live  by,  and  to  teach  others,  Go  ye  rather  to  them  that 
sell,  i.  e.  to  the  doctors,  and  buy,  i.  e.  take  of  them;  the  price 
is  perseverance,  the  love  of  learning,  industry,  and  toil  of 
all  who  are  willing  to  learn.     AUG.  Or  we  may  suppose  it  Aug. 
not  meant  as  advice  what  they  should  do,  but  as  an  indirect      sup' 
allusion  to  their  fault.     For  flatterers  sell  oil,  who  by  praising 
things  false,  and  things  unknown,  lead  souls  astray,  recom 
mending  to  them,  as  foolish,  empty  joys,  and  receiving  in 
return  some  temporal  benefit.     Go  ye  rather  to  them  that 
sell,  and  buy  for  yourselves,  i.  e.  Let  us  now  see  what  they 
can  profit  you  who  have  used  to  sell  you  their  praise.     Lest 
there  be  not  enough  for  us  and  you,  because  no  man  is  profited 
in  God's  sight  by  the  testimony  of  others,  because  God  sees 
the  heart,  and  each  man  is   scarce  able  to  give  testimony 
concerning  his  own  conscience.     JEROME  ;    But  because  the 
VOL.  i.  3  i 


850  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV. 

season  for  buying  was  now  past,  and  the  day  of  judgment 
was  coming  on,  so  that  there  was  no  room  for  penitence, 
they  must  not  now  lay  up  new  works,  but  give  an  account 
of  the  old.     HILARY  ;    The  marriage  is  the  putting  on  of 
immortality,  and  the  joining  together  corruption  and  incor- 
ruption  in  a  new  union.     CH.RYS.  That,  Wldle  they  went  to 
buy,  shews  that  even,  if  we   should  become  merciful   after 
death,  it  will  avail  us  nothing  to  escape  punishment,  as  it 
was  no  profit  to  the  rich  man,  that  he  became  merciful  and 
careful  about  those  who   belonged  to  him.     ORIGEN  ;    Or, 
He  says,  While  they  went  to  buy,  because  there  are  men 
to  be  found  who  have  neglected  to  learn  any  thing  useful, 
till  when,  in  the  very  end  of  their  life,  when  they  set  theni- 
Aug.     selves   to   learn,  they   are   overtaken   by   death.     AUG.    Or 
ubi  sup.  otherwise ;     While  they  went  to   buy,  that  is,  while    they 
turned   themselves  to   things  without,  and   sought  to  find 
pleasure  in  things  they  had  been  accustomed  to,  because 
they  knew  not  inward  joys,  came  He  that  judges ;  and  they 
that  were  ready,  i.  e.  they  whose  conscience  bore  witness 
to  them  before  God,  went  in  with  him  to  the  wedding,  i.  e. 
to  where  the  pure  soul  is  united  prolific  to  the  pure  and 
perfect  word  of  God.     JEROME  ;   After  the  day  of  judgment, 
there  is  no  more  opportunity  for   good  works,  or  for  righ 
teousness,  and  therefore  it  follows,  And  the  door  was  shut. 
Aug.      AUG.  When  they  have  been  taken  in  who  have  been  changed 
ubisup.  ^nto  angelic  being,  all  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is,  51.  is  closed ;    after  the  judgment,  there  is  no  more  place  for 
prayers  or  merit.      HILARY  ;   Yet  though  the  season  of  re 
pentance  is  now  past,  the  foolish  virgins  come  and  beg  that 
entrance  may  be  granted  to  them.     JEROME  ;   Their  worthy 
confession  calling  Him,  Lord,  Lord,  is  a  mark  of  faith.     But 
what  avails  it  to  confess  with  the  mouth  Him  whom  you 
Gloss,    deny  with   your  works  ?      GLOSS.  Grief  at  their  exclusion 
*P'   ,     extorts  from  them  a  repetition  of  this  title  of  Lord ;    they 
call  not  Him  Father,  whose  mercy  they  despised  in  their 
Aug.     lifetime.     AUG.  It  is  not  said  that  they  bought  any  oil,  and 
ubi  sup.  therefore  we  must  suppose  that  all  their  delight  in  the  praise 
of  men  being  gone,  they  return  in  distress  and  affliction  to 
implore  God.     But  His  severity,  after  judgment,  is  as  great 
as  His  mercy  was  unspeakable  before.     But  He  answered 


VER.  14 — 30.  ST.  MATTHEW.  851 

and  said,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  I  know  you  not ;  by  "that 
rule,  namely,  that  the  art  of  God,  that  is,  His  wisdom,  does 
not  admit  that  those  should  enter  into  His  joy  who  have 
sought  to  do  in  any  thing  according  to  His  commandments, 
not  as  before  God,  but  that  they  may  please  men.  JEROME  ; 

For  the  Lord  knoweth  them  tliat  are  his,  and  he  that  knoweth2  Tim. 

2    19 
not  shall  not  be  known,  and  though  they  be  virgins  in  purity  ' 

of  body,  or  in  confession  of  the  true  faith,  yet  forasmuch  as 
they  have  no  oil,  they  are  unknown  by  the  bridegroom.    When 
He  adds,  Watch  therefore,  because  ye  know  not  the  day  nor 
the  hour,  He  means  that  all  that  has  been  said  points  to 
this,  namely,  that  seeing  we  know  not  the  day  of  judgment, 
we  should  be  careful  in  providing  the  light  of  good  works. 
AUG.  For  indeed  we  know  the  day  and  the  hour  neither  of  Aug. 
that  future  time  when  the  Bridegroom  will  come,  nor  of  ouru 
own  falling  asleep  each  of  us ;    if  then  we  be  prepared  for 
this  latter,  we  shall  also  be  prepared  when  that  voice  shall 
sound,  which  shall  arouse  us  all.     ID.  There  have  not  been  Aug. 
wanting  those  who  would  refer   these   ten  virgins   to   that45p'      ' 
coming  of  Christ,  which   takes  place  now  in  the   Church ; 
but  this  is  not  to  be  hastily  held  out,  lest  any  thing  should 
occur  contradictory  of  it. 

1 4.  For  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  as  a  man  travelling 
into  a  far  country,  who  called  his  own  servants,  and 
delivered  unto  them  his  goods. 

15.  And  unto  one  he  gave  five  talents,  to  another 
two,  and  to  another  one  ;    to  every  man  according  to 
his  several  ability  ;  and  straightway  took  his  journey. 

16.  Then  he  that  had  received  the    five  talents 
went  and   traded  with   the   same,  and  made   them 
other  five  talents. 

17.  And  likewise  he    that   had   received   two,  he 
also  gained  other  two. 

18.  But  he  that  had  received  one  went  and  digged 
in  the  earth,  and  hid  his  lord's  money. 

19.  After  a  long  time  the  lord  of  those  servants 
cometh,  and  reckoneth  with  them. 

3  i  2 


852  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CRAP.  XXV. 

20.  And  so  he  that  had  received  five  talents  came 
and  brought  other  five  talents,  saying,  Lord,  thou 
deliveredst   unto   me   five    talents :    behold,   1   have 
gained  beside  them  five  talents  more. 

21.  His    lord    said   unto    him,  Well    done,  thou 
good  and  faithful  servant :    thou  hast  been  faithful 
over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many 
things  :  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  lord. 

22.  He  also  that  had  received  two  talents  came 
and  said,  Lord,  thou  deliveredst  unto  me  two  talents  : 
behold,  I  have  gained  two  other  talents  beside  them. 

23.  His  lord  said  unto  him,  Well  done,  good  and 
faithful  servant ;    thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few 
things,   T   will  make   thee  ruler  over  many  things : 
enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  lord. 

24.  Then  he  which  had  received  the  one  talent 
came  and  said,  Lord,   I  knew  thee  that   thou   art 
an  hard  man,  reaping  where  thou  hast  not  sown,  and 
gathering  where  thou  hast  not  strawed  : 

25.  And  I  was  afraid,  and  went  and  hid  thy  talent 
in  the  earth :  lo,  there  thou  hast  that  is  thine. 

26.  His  lord  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Thou 
wicked   and   slothful    servant,  thou  knewest   that    I 
reap  where  I  sowed  not,  and   gather  where  I  have 
not  strawed : 

27.  Thou  oughtest  therefore  to  have  put  my  money 
to  the  exchangers,  and  then  at  my  coming  I  should 
have  received  my  own  with  usury. 

28.  Take  therefore  the  talent  from  him,  and  give 
it  unto  him  which  hath  ten  talents. 

29.  For  unto  every  one  that  hath  shall  be  given, 
and  he  shall  have  abundance:  but  from  him  that  hath 
not  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath. 

30.  And  cast  ye  the  unprofitable  servant  into  outer 
darkness:  there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 


VER.  14 — 30.  ST.  MATTHEW.  853 

GLOSS.  In  the  foregoing  parable  is  set  forth  the  condemn-  Gloss. 
ation  of  such  as  have  not  prepared  sufficient  oil  for  themselves, nc 
whether  by  oil  is  meant  the  brightness  of  good  works,  or 
inward  joy  of  conscience,  or  alms  paid  in  money.     CHRYS. 
This  parable  is  delivered  against  those  who  will  not  assist 
their   neighbours  either  with   money,   or  words,   or   in   any 
other  way,  but  hide  all  that  they  have.     GREG.   The  man  Greg. 

.  •  n     n  i  j     i  Horn,  in 

travelling  into  a  far  country  is  our  Redeemer,  who  ascended  Ev.ix,i. 
into   heaven  in  that  flesh  which  He  had  taken  upon  Him. 
For  the  proper  home  of  the  flesh  is  the  earth,  and  it,  as  it 
were,  travels  into  a  foreign   country,  when  it  is  placed  by 
the  Redeemer  in  heaven.     ORIGEN  ;  He  travels,  not  according 
to  His  divine  nature,  but   according  to  the  dispensation  of 
the  flesh  which  He  took  upon  Him.     For  He  who  says  to 
His  disciples,  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  /AeMat,28, 
end  qf  the  world,  is  the  Only-Begotten  God,  who  is  not 
circumscribed  by  bodily  form.     By  saying  this,  we  do  not 
disunite  Jesus,  but  attribute  its  proper  qualities  to  each  con 
stituent  substance.     We  may  also  explain  thus,  that  the  Lord 
travels  in  a  far  country  with  all  those  who  walk  by  faith  and 
not  by  sight.     And  when  we  are  absent  from  the  body  with 
the  Lord,  then  will  He  also  be  with  us.     Observe  that  the 
turn  of  expression  is  not  thus,  I  am  like,  or  The  Son  of  Man 
is  like,  a  man  travelling  into  a  far  country,  because  He  is 
represented  in  the  parable  as  travelling,  not«as  the  Son  of 
God,  but  as  man.     JEROME  ;   Calling  together  the  Apostles, 
He  gave  them  the  Gospel  doctrine,  to  one  more,  to  another 
less,  not  as  of  His  own  bounty  or  scanting,  but  as  meeting  the 
capacity  of  the  receivers,  as  the  Apostle  says,  that  he  fed  i  Cor. 
with    milk    those    that    were    unable    to    take    solid    food. 3> 2* 
In  the  five,  two,  and  one  talent,  we  recognise  the  diversity 
of    gifts   wherewith    we    have    been     entrusted.      ORIGEN  ; 
Whenever  you  see  of  those  who  have  received  from  Christ 
a  dispensation  of  the  oracles  of  God  that  some  have  more 
and  some  less ;    that  some  have  not  in  comparison  of  the 
better  sort  half  an  understanding  of  things  ;   that  others  have 
still  less;  you  will  perceive  the  difference  of  those  who  have 
all  of  them  received  from  Christ  oracles  of  God.     They  to 
whom  five  talents  were  given,  and  they  to  whom  two,  and  they  to 
whom  one,  have  divers  degrees  of  capacity,  and  one  could  not 
hold   the   measure   of  another ;    he  who    received   but    one 


854  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV. 

having  received  no  mean  endowment,  for  one  talent  of  such 
a  master  is  a  great  thing.  His  proper  servants  are  three, 
as  there  are  three  sorts  of  those  that  bear  fruit.  He  that 
received  five  talents,  is  he  that  is  able  to  raise  all  the  mean 
ings  of  the  Scriptures  to  their  more  divine  significations;  he 
that  has  two  is  he  that  has  been  taught  carnal  doctrine,  (for 
two  seems  to  be  a  carnal  number,)  and  to  the  less  strong  the 

Greg.     Master  of  the  household  has  given  one  talent.     GREG.  Other- 

p*  wise ;  The  five  talents  denote  the  gift  of  the  five  senses,  that 

is.  the  knowledge  of  things  without ;  the  two  signify  tmder- 

Gloss.  standing  and  action,  the  one  talent  understanding  only.  GLOSS. 
And  straightway  took  his  journey,  not  changing  his  place, 
but  leaving  them  to  their  own  freewill  and  choice  of  action. 

JEROME;  He  that  had  received  Jive  talents,  that  is,  having 
received  his  bodily  senses,  he  doubled  his  knowledge  of 
heavenly  things,  from  the  creature  understanding  the  Creator, 

Greg,  from  earthly  unearthly,  from  temporal  the  eternal.  GREG. 
3'  There  are  also  some  who  though  they  cannot  pierce  to  things 
inward  and  mystical,  yet  for  their  measure  of  view  of  their  hea 
venly  country  they  teach  rightly  such  things  as  they  can,  what 
they  have  gathered  from  things  without,  and  while  they  keep 
themselves  from  wantonness  of  the  flesh,  and  from  ambition 
of  earthly  things,  and  from  the  delights  of  the  things  that  are 
seen,  they  restrain  others  also  from  the  same  by  their  admo 
nitions.  ORIGIN  ;  Or,  They  that  have  their  senses  exercised 
by  healthy  conversation,  both  raising  themselves  to  higher 
knowledge  and  zealous  in  teaching  others,  these  have  gained 
other  five;  because  no  one  can  easily  have  increase  of  any 
virtues  that  are  not  his  own,  and  without  he  teaches  others 
what  he  himself  knows,  and  no  more.  HILARY;  Or,  That 
servant  who  received  five  talents  is  the  people  of  be 
lievers  under  the  Law,  who  beginning  with  that,  doubled  their 

Greg,     merit  by  the  right  obedience  of  an  evangelic  faith.     GREG. 

ubi  sup.  ^gajnj  there  are  some  who  by  their  understanding  and  their 
actions  preach  to  others,  and  thence  gain  as  it  were  a  twofold 
profit  in  such  merchandize.  This  their  preaching  bestowed 
upon  both  sexes  is  thus  a  talent  doubled.  ORIGEN;  Or, 
gained  other  two,  that  is,  carnal  instruction,  and  another  yet 
a  little  higher.  HILARY;  Or,  the  servant  to  whom  two  talents 
were  committed  is  the  people  of  the  Gentiles  justified  by  the 
faith  and  confession  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Father,  confessing 


VEH.   14 30.  ST.  MATTHEW.  .        855 

our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  be  both  God  and  Man,  both  Spirit 
and  Flesh.   These  are  the  two  talents  committed  to  this  servant. 
But  as  the  Jewish  people  doubled  by  its  belief  in  the  Gospel 
every  Sacrament  which  it  had  learned  in  the  Law,  (i.  e.  its 
five  talents,)  so  this  people  by  its  use  of  its  two  talents  merited 
understanding  and  working.     GREG.  To  hide  one's  talent  in  Greg. 
the  earth  is  to  devote  the  ability  we  have  received  to  worldly ubl  8Up' 
business.     ORIGEN;  Or  otherwise;  When  you  see  one  who 
has  the  power  of  teaching,  and  of  benefitting  souls,  hiding  this 
power,  though  he  may  have  a  certain  religiousness  of  life, 
doubt  not  of  such  an  one  that  he  has  received  one  talent  and 
hides  it  in  the  earth.     HILARY;  Or,  This  servant  who  has 
received  one  talent  and  hid  it  in  the  earth  is  the  people  that 
continue  in  the  Law,  who  through  jealousy  of  the  salvation  of 
the  Gentiles  hide  the  talent  they  have  received  in  the  earth. 
For  to  hide  a  talent  in  the  earth  is  to  hide  the  glory  of  the 
new  preaching  through  offence  at  the  Passion  of  His  Body. 
His  coming  to  reckon  with  them  is  the  assize  of  the  day  of 
judgment.     ORIGEN;  And  note  here  that  the  servants  do  not 
come  to  the  Lord  to  be  judged,  but  the  Lord  shall  come  to 
them  when  the   time  shall  be  accomplished.     After  a   long 
time,  that  is,  when  He  has  sent  forth  such  as  are  fitted  to 
bring  about  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  perhaps  for  this  reason 
it  is  not  easy  to  find  one  who  is  quite  fit  to  pass  forthwith  out 
of  this  life,  as  is  manifest  from  this,  that  even  the  Apostles 
lived  to  old  age;  for  example,  it  was  said  to  Peter,  When  thou  John 
shalt  be  old,  thou  shall  stretch  forth  thy  hand;  and  Paul  says21'     ' 
to  Philemon,  Now  as  Paul  the  aged.     CHRYS.  Observe  also 
that  the  Lord  does  not  require  the   reckoning  immediately, 
that  you  may  learn  His  long  suffering.     To  me  He  seems  to 
say  this  covertly,  alluding  to  the  resurrection.   JEROME;  After 
a  long  time,  because  there  is  a  long  interval  between  the 
Saviour's  ascension  and  His  second    coming.     GREG.  This  Greg, 
lesson  from  this  Gospel  warns  us  to  consider  whether  those, u  ' sup* 
who  seem  to  have  received  more  in  this  world  than  others, 
shall  not  be  more  severely  judged  by  the  Author  of  the  world; 
the  greater  the  gifts,  the    greater  the  reckoning   for   them. 
Therefore  should  every  one  be  humble  concerning  his  talents 
in  proportion  as  he  sees  himself  tied  up  with  a  greater  respon 
sibility.     ORIGEN;  He  who  had  received  five  talents  comes 


856  (H)SPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV. 

Greg,    first  with  boldness  before  his  Lord.     GREG.  And  bringing  his 

Ev.lx!"  talents  doubled,  he  is  commended  by  his  Lord,  and  is  sent 

2-         into  eternal  happiness.     RABAN  .   Well  done  is  an  interjection 

of  joy;  the  Lord  shewing  us  therein  the  joy  with  which  He 

invites  the  servant  who  labours  well  to  eternal  bliss;  of  which 

Ps.  16,  the  Prophet  speaks,  In  thy  presence  is  fulness  of  joy.    CHRYS. 

Thou  good  servant,  this  he  means  of  that  goodness  which  is 

Gloss,    shewn  towards  our  neighbour.     GLOSS.   Faithful,  because  he 

'  appropriated  to  himself  none  of  those  things  which  were  his 

lord's.     JEROM  E  ;  He  says ,  Thou  wastfaithful  in  a  few  things, 

because  all  that  we  have  at  present  though  they  seem  great 

and  many,  yet  in  comparison  of  the  things  to  come  are  little 

^eg.    and  few.     GREG.  The  faithful  servant  is  set  over  many  things, 

ubi  sup.  .  . 

when  having  overcome  the  afflictions  of  corruption,  he  joys 
with  eternal  joy  in  that  heavenly  seat.     He  is  then  fully  ad 
mitted  to  the  joy  of  his  Lord,  when  taken  in  to  that  abiding 
country,  and  numbered  among  the  companies  of  Angels,  he 
has  such  inward  joy  for  this  gift,  that  there  is  no  room  for  out 
ward  sorrow  at  his  corruption.     JEROME;  What  greater  thing 
can  be  given  to  a  faithful  servant  than  to  be  with  his  Lord, 
and  to  see  his  Lord's  joy?    CHRYS.  By  this  word^'oy  He  ex- 
^"S;.    presses  complete  blessedness.     AUG.  This  will  be  our  perfect 
i.  s.       joy,  than  which  is  none  greater,  to  have  fruition  of  that  Di 
vine  Trinity  in  whose  image  we  were  made.     JEROME;  The 
servant  who  of  five  talents  had  made  ten,  and  he  who  of  two 
had  made  four,  are  received  with  equal  favour  by  the  Master 
of  the  household,  who  looks  not  to  the  largeness  of  their  profit, 
but  to  the  disposition  of  their  will.     ORIGEN;  That  He  says 
of  both  these  servants  that  they  came,  we  must  understand  of 
their  passing  out  of  this  world  to  Him.     And  observe  that 
the  same  was  said  to  them  both ;  he  that  had  Jess  capacity, 
but  that  which  he  had,  he  exercised  after  such  manner  as  he 
ought,  shall  have  no  whit  less  with  God  than  he  who  has  a 
greater  capacity;  for  all  that  is  required  is  that  whatever  a 
man  has  from  God,  he  should  use  it  all  to  the  glory  of  God. 
Greg.         GREG.  The  servant  who  would  not  trade  with  his  talent 
?v0"?xm  re^ums   to  I"8  Lord  with  words  of  excuse.     JEROME  ;   For 
3.          truly  that  which  is  written,  To  offer  excuses  excusing  sins 
4  s>      '  happened  to  this  servant,  so  that  to  slothfulness  and  idleness 
was  added  also  the  sin  of  pride.     For  he  who  ought  to  have 


VER.   14 — 30.  ST.  MATTHEW.  857 

honestly  acknowledged  his  fault,  and  to  have  entreated  the 
Master  of  the  household,  on  the  contrary  cavils  against  him, 
and  avers  that  he  did  it  with  provident  design,  lest  while  he 
sought  to  make  profit  he  should  hazard  the  capital.    OKIGEN; 
This  servant  seems  to  me  to  have  been  one  of  those  who 
believe,  but  do  not  act  honestly,  concealing  their  faith,  and 
doing  every  thing  that  they  may  not  be  known  to  be  Chris 
tians.     They  who  are  such  seem  to  me  to  have  a  fear  of  God, 
and  to  regard  Him  as  austere  and  implacable.     We  indeed 
understand  how  the  Lord  reaps  where  He  sowed  not,  be 
cause  the  righteous  man  sows  in  the  Spirit,  whereof  he  shall 
reap  life  eternal.     Also  He  reaps  where  He  sowed  not,  and 
gathers  where  he  scattered  not,  because  He  counts  as  bestowed 
upon  Himself  all  that  is  sown  among  the  poor.     JEROME  > 
Also,  by  this  which  this  servant  dared  to  say,  Thou  reapest 
where  thou  sowedst  not,  we  understand  that  the  Lord  accepts 
the  good  life  of  the  Gentiles  and  of  the  Philosophers.     GREG.  Greg. 
But  there  are  many  within  the  Church  of  whom  this  servant11 
is  a  type,  who  fear  to  set  out  on  the  path  of  a  better  life,  and 
yet   are   not   afraid   to  continue  in  carnal   indolence ;   they 
esteem  themselves  sinners,  and  therefore  tremble  to  take  up 
the    paths  of  holiness,  but   fearlessly  remain   in   their  own 
iniquities.     HILARY  ;  Or,  By  this  servant  is  understood  the 
Jewish  people  which  continues  in  the  Law,  and  says,  /  was 
afraid  of  thee,  as   through  fear  of  the  old  commandments 
abstaining  from  the  exercise  of  evangelical  liberty ;    and  it 
says,  Lo,  there  is  that  is  thine,  as  though  it  had  continued  in 
those  things  which  the  Lord  commanded,  when  yet  it  knew 
that  the  fruits  of  righteousness  should  be  reaped  there,  where 
the  Law  had  not  been  sown,  and  that  there  should  be  ga 
thered  from  among  the  Gentiles  some  who  were  not  scattered 
of  the   seed  of  Abraham.      JEROME  ;   But  what  he  thought 
would  be  his  excuse  is  turned  into  his  condemnation.     He 
calls   him   wicked  servant,  because  he    cavilled  against  his 
Lord  ;  and  slothful,  because  he  would  not  double  his  talent ; 
condemning  his  pride  in  the  one,  and  his  idleness  in  the  other. 
If  you  knew  me  to  be  hard  and  austere,  and  to  seek  after  other 
men's  goods,  you  should  also  have  known  that  I  exact  with 
the  more  rigour  that  is  mine  own,  and  should  have  given  my 
money  to   the  bankers;   for  the   Greek   word  here 


858  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV. 

Ps.12,6.  means  money.     The  words  of  the  Lord  are  pure  words,  sil 
ver  tried  in   the  fire.     The  money,  or  silver,  then  are  the 
preaching  of  the    Gospel    and   the   heavenly    word ;    which 
ought  to  be  given  to  the  bankers,  that  is,  either  to  the  other 
doctors,  which  the  Apostles  did  when  they  ordained  Priests 
and  Bishops  throughout  the   cities;  or  to  all  the  believers, 
who  can  double  the  sum  and  restore  it  with  usury  by  fulfilling 
Greg,    in  act  what  they  have  learned  in  word.     GREG.  So  then  we 
Ev.  ix.   see  as  well  *ne  peril  of  the  teachers  if  they  withhold  the  Lord's 
money,  as  that  of  the  hearers  from  whom  is  exacted  with 
usury  that  they  have  heard,  namely,  that  from  what  they  have 
heard  they  should  strive  to  understand  that  they  have  not 
heard.     ORIGEN  ;  The  Lord  did  not  allow  that  He  was  a 
hard  man  as  the  servant  supposed,  but  He  assented  to  all 
his  other  words.     But  He  is  indeed  hard  to  those  who  abuse 
the  mercy  of  God  to  suffer  themselves  to  become  remiss,  and 
Greg,    use  it  not  to  be  converted.     GREG.    Let  us  hear  now  the 
sup'  sentence   by   which   the    Lord    condemns  the    slothful    ser 
vant,  Take  away  from  him  the  talent,  and  give  it  to  him  that 
hath  ten  talents.     ORIGEN  ;  The  Lord  is  able  by  the  might 
of  His  divinity  to  take  away  his  ability  from  the  man  who  is 
slack  to  use  it,  and  to  give  it  to  him  who  has  improved  his 
Greg.    own.     GREG.  It  might  seem  more  seasonable  to  have  given 
it  rather  to  him  who  had  two,  than  to  him  who  had  five.    But 
as  the  five  talents  denote  the  knowledge  of  things  without, 
the  two  understanding  and  action,  he  who  had  the  two  had 
more  than  he  who  had  the  five  talents ;  this  man  with  his  five 
talents  merited  the  administration  of  things  without,  but  was 
yet  without  any  understanding  of  things  eternal.     The  one 
talent  therefore,  which  we  say  signifies  the  intellect,  ought  to 
be  given  to  him  who  had  administered  well  the  things  without 
which  he  had  received ;  the  same  we  see  happen  every  day 
in  the  Holy  Church,  that  they  who  administer  faithfully  things 
without,  are  also  mighty  in  the  in  ward  understanding.  JEROME; 
Or,  it  is  given  to  him  who  had  gained  five  talents,  that  we  may 
understand  that  though  the  Lord's  joy  over  the  labour  of  each 
be  equal,  of  him  who  doubled  the  five  as  of  him  who  doubled 
the  two,  yet  is  a  greater  reward  due  to  him  who  laboured 
Greg,     more     in    the    Lord's    money.       GREG.     Then    follows    a 
1  general  sentence,  For  to  every  one  that  hath  shall  be  given, 


VER.   14 — 80.  ST.  MATTHEW.  859 

and  he  shall  have  abundance,  but  from  him  that  hath  not, 
even  that  which  he  seemeth  to  have  shall  be  taken  away. 
For  whosoever  has  charity  receives  the  other  gifts  also ;  but 
whosoever  has  not  charity  loses  even  the  gifts  which  he 
seemed  to  have  had.  CHRYS.  Also  he  who  has  the  graces  of 
eloquence  and  of  teaching  to  profit  withal,  and  uses  it  not, 
loses  that  grace ;  but  he  who  does  his  endeavour  in  putting  it 
to  use  acquires  a  larger  share.  JEROME;  Many  also  who 
are  naturally  clever  and  have  sharp  wit,  if  they  become  neg 
lectful,  and  by  disuse  spoil  that  good  they  have  by  nature, 
these  do,  in  comparison  of  him  who  being  somewhat  dull  by 
nature  compensates  by  industry  and  painstaking  his  back 
wardness,  lose  their  natural  gift,  and  see  the  reward  promised 
them  pass  away  to  others.  But  it  may  also  be  understood 
thus;  To  him  who  has  faith,  and  a  right  will  in  the  Lord, 
even  if  he  come  in  aught  short  in  deed  as  being  man,  shall  be 
given  by  the  merciful  Judge;  but  he  who  has  not  faith,  shall 
lose  even  the  other  virtues  which  he  seems  to  have  naturally. 
And  He  says  carefully,  From  him  that  hath  not,  shall  be 
taken  atray  even  that  which  he  seemeth  to  have,  for  what 
soever  is  without  faith  in  Christ  ought  not  to  be  imputed  to 
him  who  uses  it  amiss,  but  to  Him  who  gives  the  goods  of 
nature  even  to  a  wicked  servant.  GREG.  Or,  Whoso  has  not  Greg. 
charity,  loses  even  those  things  which  he  seems  to  have  re-  u 
ceived.  HILARY;  And  on  those  who  have  the  privilege  of  the 
Gospels,  the  honour  of  the  Law  is  also  conferred,  but  from 
him  who  has  not  the  faith  of  Christ  is  taken  away  even  that 
honour  which  seemed  to  be  his  through  the  Law.  CHRYS. 
The  wicked  servant  is  punished  not  only  by  loss  of  his  talent, 
but  by  intolerable  infliction,  and  a  denunciation  in  accusation 
joined  therewith.  ORIGEN  ;  Into  outer  darkness,  where  is 
no  light,  perhaps  not  oven  physical  light;  and  where  God  is 
not  seen,  but  those  who  are  condemned  thereto  are  condemned 
as  unworthy  the  contemplation  of  God.  We  have  also  read 
some  one  before  us  expounding  this  of  the  darkness  of  that 
abyss  which  is  outside  the  world,  as  though  unworthy  of  the 
world,  they  were  cast  out  into  that  abyss,  where  is  darkness 
with  none  to  lighten  it.  GREG.  And  thus  for  punishment  he  Greg, 
shall  be  cast  into  outer  darkness  who  has  of  his  own  free  willu 
fallen  into  inward  darkness.  JEROME  ;  What  is  weeping  and 


860  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV. 

gnashing  of  teeth  we  have  said  above.     CHRYS.  Observe  that 
not  only  he  who  robs  others,  or  who  works  evil,  is  punished 
with   extreme  punishment,  but  he  also  who  does  not  good 
Greg,     works.     GREG.    Let  him  then   who  has  understanding  look 
£°™'xin  tnat  ne  hold  not  his  peace ;  let  him  who  has  affluence  not  be 
7.          dead  to  mercy ;   let  him  who  has  the  art  of  guiding  life  com 
municate  its  use  with  his  neighbour ;  and  him  who  has  the 
faculty  of  eloquence  intercede  with  the  rich  for  the  poor.     For 
the  very  least  endowment  will  be  reckoned  as  a  talent  entrusted 
for  use.      ORIGEN  ;    If  you   are   offended  at  this   we   have 
said,  namely  that  a  man  shall  be  judged  if  he  does  not  teach 
i  cor.    others,  call  to  mind  the  Apostle's  words,  Woe  is  unto  me  if  I 
9,  16.    preach  not  the  Gospel. 


31.  When  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory, 
and   all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  then  shall  he  sit 
upon  the  throne  of  his  glory: 

32.  And  before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations : 
and  he  shall  separate  them  one  from  another,  as  a 
shepherd  divideth  his  sheep  from  the  goats : 

33.  And  he  shall  set  the  sheep  on  his  right  hand, 
but  the  goats  on  the  left. 

34.  Then    shall    the   King  say  unto  them    on  his 
right  hand,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit 
the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world : 

35.  For  I  was  an  hungred,  and  ye  gave  me  meat : 
I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink:  I  was  a  stranger, 
and  ye  took  me  in  : 

36.  Naked,  and  ye  clothed  me :  I  was  sick,  and  ye 
visited  me  :  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me. 

37.  Then  shall  the  righteous  answer  him,  saying, 
Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an  hungred,  and  fed  thee  ? 
or  thirsty,  and  gave  thee  drink  ? 

38.  When  saw  we  thee  a  stranger,  and  took  thee 
in  ?  or  naked,  and  clothed  thee  ? 


VER.  31  -  45.  ST.  MATTHEW.  861 

39.  Or  when  saw  we  thee  sick,  or  in  prison,  and 
came  unto  thee  ? 

40.  And  the  King  shall  answer  and  say  unto  them, 
Verily  I  say  unto  you,   Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it 
unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have 
done  it  unto  me. 

41.  Then  shall  he  say  also  unto  them  on  the  left 
hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire, 
prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels  : 

42.  For  I  was  an  hungred,  and  ye   gave  me  no 
meat:   I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  no  drink  : 

43.  I  was    a  stranger,  and  ye  took   me   not   in  : 
naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not  :  sick,  and  in  prison, 
and  ye  visited  me  not. 

44.  Then  shall  they  also  answer  him,  saying,  Lord, 
when    saw    we  thee    an    hungred,    or   athirst,    or    a 
stranger,  or  naked,  or  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  did  not 
minister  unto  thee  ? 

45.  Then   shall  he  answer  them,  saying,  Verily  I 
say  unto  you,  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  to  one  of  the 
least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  to  me. 

RABAN.  After  the  parables  concerning  the  end  of  the  world 
the  Lord  proceeds  to  describe  the  manner  of  the  judgment  to 
come.  CHRYS.  To  this  most  sweet  section  of  Scripture  which 
we  cease  not  continually  to  ponder,  let  us  now  listen  with  all 
attention  and  compunction  of  spirit,  for  Christ  does  indeed 
clothe  this  discourse  with  more  terrors  and  vividness.  He  does 
not  accordingly  say  of  this  as  of  the  others,  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  like,  but  shews  of  Himself  by  direct  revelation,  saying, 
When  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  Ms  majesty.  JEROME  ; 
He  who  was  within  two  days  to  celebrate  the  passover,  to  be 
delivered  to  the  cross,  and  mocked  by  men,  fitly  now  holds 
out  the  glory  of  His  triumph,  that  He  may  overbalance  the 
offences  that  were  to  follow  by  the  promise  of  reward.  And 
it  is  to  be  noted,  that  He  who  shall  be  seen  in  majesty  is  the 
Son  of  Man.  AUG.  The  wicked  and  they  also  who  shall 


in  Joan. 
Tr.  21. 


8CQ  fiOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV. 

set  on  His  right  hand  shall  sec  Him  in  human  shape,  for  He 

shall  appear  in  the  judgment  in  that  form  which  He  took  on 

Him  from  us  ;  but  it  shall  be  afterwards  that  He  shall  be  seen 

in  the  form  of  God,  for  which  all  the  believers  long.     REMIG. 

These  words  overthrow  the  error  of  those  who  said  that  the 

Lord  should  not  continue  in  the  same  form  of  a  servant.     By 

his  majesty,  He  means  His  divinity,  in  which  He  is  equal  to  the 

Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit.     ORIGEN;   Or,  He  shall  come 

again  with  glory,  that  His  body  may  be  such  as  when  He  was 

transfigured  on  the  mount.     His  throne  is  either  certain  of 

Ps.  122,  the  more  perfect  of  the  Saints,  of  whom  it  is  written,  For  there 

5'          are  set  thrones  in  judgment;  or  certain  Angelic  Powers  of 

Col.  i,   whom  it  is  said,  Thrones  or  dominions-     AUG.  He  shall  come 

A '        down  with  the  Angels  whom  He  shall  call  from  heavenly 

de  Civ.  places  to  hold  judgment.     CHRYS.  For  all  his  Angels  shall  be 

24. '       with  him  to  bear  witness  to  the  things  wherein  they  have  ad- 

Aug<     ministered  to  men's  salvation  at  His  bidding.     AUG.  Or,  by 

Sean.     Angels  here  He  means  men  who  shall  judge  with  Christ;  for 

Angels  are  messengers,  and  such  we  rightly  understand  all 

who  have  brought   tidings   of  heavenly  salvation  to    men. 

REMIG.  And  all  nations  shall  be  gathered  before  Him.  These 

Aug.      words  prove  that  the  resurrection  of  men  shall  be  real.     AUG. 

Dei  'xx.  This  gathering  shall  be  executed  by  the  ministry  of  Angels, 

24-        as  it  is  said  in  the  Psalm,  Gather  to  him  his  saints.     ORIGEN; 

5.8'     '   Or,  we  need  not  understand  this  of  a  local  gathering  together, 

but  that  the  nations  shall  be  no  more  dispersed  in  divers  and 

false  dogmas  concerning  Him.     For  Christ's  divinity  shall  be 

manifested  so  that  not  even  sinners  shall  any  longer  be  ignorant 

of  Him.    He  shall  not  then  shew  Himself  as  Son  of  God  in  one 

place  and  not  in  another;  as  He  sought  to  express  to  us  by 

the  comparison  of  the  lightning.     So  as  long  as  the  wicked 

know  neither   themselves  nor  Christ,  or   the  righteous  see 

1  Cor,    through  a  glass  darkly,  so  long  the  good  are  not  severed  from 

13>  12'  the  evil,  but  when  by  the  manifestation  of  the  Son  of  God  all 

shall  come  to  the  knowledge  of  Him,  then  shall  the  Saviour 

sever  the  good  from  the  evil ;  for  then  shall  sinners  see  their 

sins,  and  the  righteous  shall  see  clearly  to  what  end  the  seeds 

of  righteousness  in  them  have  led.     They  that  are  saved  are 

called  sheep  by  reason  of  that  mildness  which  they  have  learnt 

Mat.n,  of  Him  who  said,  Learn  of  me,  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly,  and 


VKR.  31 45.  ST.   MATTHEW.  863 

because  they  are  ready  to  go  even  to  death  in  imitation  of 
Christ,  who  was  led  as  a  sheep  to  the  slaughter.     The  wicked,  Isa.  53, 
are  called  goats,  because  they  climb  rough  and  rugged  rocks, 
and  walV  in  dangerous  places.     CHRYS.  Or,  He  calls  the  one 
sheep  and  the  other  goats,  to  denote  the  unprofitableness  of 
the  one,  and  the  fruitfulness  of  the  other,  for  sheep  are  greatly 
productive  in  fleece,  milk,  and  lambs.   GLOSS.  Under  the  figure  Gloss, 
of  a  sheep  in  Scripture  is  signified  simplicity  and  innocence. no 
Beautifully  then  in  this  place  are  the  elect  denoted  by  sheep. 
JEROME;  Also  the  goat  is  a  salacious  animal,  and  was  the 
offering  for  sins  in  the  Law ;  and  He  says  not  '  she  goats' 
which  can  produce  young,  and  come  up  shorn  from  the  wash-  Song  of 
ing.    CHRYS.  Then  He  separates  them  in  place.     ORiGEN;^'™011 
For  the  Saints  who  have  wrought  right  works,  shall  receive  in 
recompense  of  their  right  works  the  King's  right  hand,  at 
which  is  rest  and  glory;  but  the  wicked  for  their  evil  and 
sinister  deeds  have  fallen  to  the   left  hand,  that  is,  into  the 
misery  of  torments.     Then  shall  the  King  say  to  those  who 
are  on  his  right  hand,  Come,  that  in  whatsoever  they  are  be 
hind  they  may  make  it  up  when  they  are  more  perfectly  united 
to  Christ.     He  adds,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  to  shew  how 
eminently  blessed  they  were,  being  of  old  blessed  of  the  Lord,  Pa.  116, 
which  made  heaven  and  earth.     RABAN.  Or,  they  are  called 
blessed,  to  whom  an  eternal  blessing  is  due  for  their  good  de 
serts.     He  calls  it  the  kingdom  of  His  Father,  ascribing  the 
dominion  of  the  kingdom  to  Him  by  whom  Himself  the  King 
was  begotten.     For  by  His  royal  power,  with  which  He  shall 
be  exalted  alone  in  that  day,  He  shall  pronounce  the  sentence 
of  judgment,  Then  shall  the  King  say.     CHRYS.  Observe  that 
He  says  not  '  Receive,'  but  possess,  or  inherit,  as  due  to  you 
from  of  old.     JEROME  ;  This  prepared  for  you  from  the  found 
ation  of  the  world,  is  to  be  understood  as  of  the  foreknowledge 
of  God,  with  whom  things  to  come  are  as  already  done.    A.UG.  Aug. 
Besides  that  kingdom  of  which  He  will  say  in  the  end,  In-  pef  ^ 
herit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you,  though  in  a  very  inferiors, 
manner,  the  present  Church  is  also  called  His  kingdom,  in 
the  which  we  are  yet  in  conflict  with  the  enemy  until  we  come 
to  that  kingdom  of  peace,  where  we  shall  reign  without  an 
enemy.     ID.    But   one  will   say,  I  desire  not  to  reign,  it  is  Aug. 
enough  for  me  that  I  be  saved.     Wherein  they  are  deceived, 


864  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV. 

first,  because  there  is  no  salvation  for  those  whose  iniquity 
abounds ;  and,  secondly,  because  if  there  be  any  difference 
between  those  that  reign,  and  those  that  do  not  reign,  yet 
must  all  be  within  the  same  kingdom,  lest  they  be  esteemed 
for  foes  or  aliens,  and  perish  while  the  others  reign.  Thus  all 
the  Romans  inherit  the  kingdom  of  Rome,  though  all  do  not 
reign  in  it.  CHRYS.  For  what  the  Saints  obtain  the  boon  of 
this  heavenly  kingdom  He  shews  when  He  adds,  /  was  an 
/uingred,  and  ye  gave  me  to  eat.  REMIG.  And  it  is  to  be 
noted,  that  the  Lord  here  enumerates  six  works  of  mercy  which 
whoso  shall  study  to  accomplish  shall  be  entitled  to  the 
kingdom  prepared  for  the  chosen  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world.  RABAN.  Mystically,  He  who  with  the  bread  of  the 
word  and  the  drink  of  wisdom  refreshes  the  soul  hungering 
and  thirsting  after  righteousness,  or  admits  into  the  home  of 
our  mother  the  Church  him  who  is  wandering  in  heresy  or 
sin,  or  who  strengthens  the  weak  in  faith,  such  an  one  dis- 
Greg.  charges  the  obligations  of  true  love.  GREG.  These, 
xxvl.27. to  whom  as  they  stand  on  His  right  hand  the  Judge  at  His 
coming  shall  say,  /  was  an  hungred  8fc.  are  they  who  are 
judged  on  the  side  of  the  elect,  and  who  reign;  who  wash 
away  the  stains  of  their  life  with  tears;  who  redeem  for 
mer  sins  by  good  deeds  following;  who,  whatever  unlawful 
thing  they  have  at  any  time  done,  have  covered  it  from  the 
Judge's  eyes  by  a  cloak  of  alms.  Others  indeed  there  are  who 
are  not  judged,  yet  reign,  who  have  gone  even  beyond  the 
precepts  of  the  Law  in  the  perfection  of  their  virtue.  ORIGEN  ; 
It  is  from  humility  that  they  declare  themselves  unworthy  of 
any  praise  for  their  good  deeds,  not  that  they  are  forgetful  of 
what  they  have  done.  But  He  shews  them  His  close  sym 
pathy  with  His  own.  RABAN.  Lord,  when  saw  we  iliee  $c. 
This  they  say  not  because  they  distrust  the  Lord's  words,  but 
they  are  in  amaze  at  so  great  exaltation,  and  at  the  greatness 
of  their  own  glory  ;  or  because  the  good  which  they  have 
done  will  seem  to  them  to  be  so  small  according  to  that  of  the 
Rom.  8,  Apostle,  For  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not 
18-  worthy  to  be  compared  to  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in 
us.  JEROME  ;  It  were  indeed  free  to  us  to  understand  that  it 
is  Christ  in  every  poor  man  whom  we  feed  when  he  is  hungry, 
or  give  drink  to  when  he  is  thirsty,  and  so  of  other  things ; 


VKR.  81 — 45.  STV  MATTHEW.  865 

but  when  He  says,  In  that  ye  have  done  it  to  one  of  the  least  of 
thesemy  brethren,  He  seems  tome  not  to  speak  of  the  poor  gene 
rally,  but  of  the  poor  in  spirit,  those  to  whom  He  pointed 
and  said,  WJiosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  my  Father  which  i 
in  heaven,  the  same  is  my  brother.    CHRYS.  But  if  they  are  His 12'  50> 
brethren,  why  does  He  call  them  the  least  ?   Because  they  are 
lowly,  poor,  and  outcast.  By  these  He  means  not  only  the  monks 
who  have  retired  to  the  mountains,  but  every  believer  though  he 
should  be  secular,  though  an  hungred,  or  the  like,  yet  He 
would  have  him  obtain  merciful  succours,  for  baptism  and 
communication  of  the  Divine  mysteries  makes  him  a  brother. 
ORIGEN;  As  He  had  said  to  the  righteous,  Come  ye,  so 
He  says  to  the  wicked,  Depart  ye,  for  they  who  keep  God's 
commandment  are  near  to  the  Word,  and  are  called  that  they 
may  be  made  more  near;  but  they  are  far  from  it,  though 
they  may  seem  to  stand  hard  by,  who  do  not  His  commands; 
therefore  it  is  said  to  them,  Depart  ye,  that  those  who  seemed 
to  be  living  before  Him,  might  be  no  more  seen.     It  should 
be  remarked,  that  though  He  had  said  to  the  Saints,  Ye  blessed 
of  my  Father,  Vie  says  not  now,   Ye  cursed  of  my  Father, 
because  of  all  blessing  the  Father  is  the  author,  but  each  man 
is  the  origin  of  his  own  curse  when  he  does  the  things  that 
deserve  the  curse.     They  who  depart  from  Jesus  fall  into 
eternal  fire,  which  is  of  a  very  different  kind  from  that  fire 
which  we  use.     For  no  fire  which  we  have  is  eternal,  nor  even 
of  any  long  continuance.   And  note,  that  He  does  not  say, '  the 
kingdom  prepared  for  the  Angels,'  as  He  does  say  everlasting 
fire  prepared  for  the  Devil   and  his   Angels;  because  He 
did  not,  as  far  as  in  Him  lay,  create  men  to  perdition,  but 
sinners  yoke  themselves  to  the  Devil,  so  that  as  they  that  are 
saved  are  made  equal  to  the  holy  Angels,  they  that  perish  are 
made  equal  with  the  Devil's  Angels.     AUG.  It  is  hence  clear,  AJS. 
that  the  same  fire  will  be  appropriated  to  the  punishment  of  j*e  .Civ-. 
men  and  of  daemons.     If  then  it  inflicts  pain  by  corporeal  10. ' 
touch,  so  as  to  produce  bodily  torment,  how  will  there  be  in 
it  any  punishment  for  the  evil  spirits,  unless  the  daemons  have, 
as  some  have  thought,  bodies  composed  of  gross  and  fluid  air. 
But  if  any  man  asserts  that  the  daemons  have  no  bodies,  we 
would  not  pugnaciously  contend  the  point.     For  why  may  we 
not  say,  that  truly,  though  wonderfully,  even  incorporeal  spirit 
VOL.  i.  3  K 


866  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV. 

can  feel  pain  of  corporeal  fire  ?     If  the  spirits  of  men,  though 
themselves  incorporeal,  can  be  now  inclosed  in  bodily  limbs, 
they  can  then  be  inseparably  attached  to  the  bonds  of  body» 
The  daemons  then  will  be  united  to  a  body  of  material  fire, 
though  themselves  immaterial,  drawing  punishment  from  their 
body,  not  giving  life  to  it.     And  that  fire  being  material  will 
torture  such  bodies  as  ours  with  their  spirits;  but  the  daemons 
are  spirits  without  bodies.     ORIGEN  ;   Or  it  may  be  that  fire 
is  of  such  nature  that  it  can  burn  invisible  substances,  being 
2  Cor.    itself  invisible,  as  the  Apostle  speaks,  The  things  which  are 
seen  are  temporal,  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are 
eternal.     Wonder  not  when  you  hear  that  there  is  a  fire  which 
though  unseen  has  power  to  torture,  when  you  see  that  there 
is  an  internal  fever  which  comes  upon  men,  ancj  pains  them 
grievously.     It  follows,  /  was  an  hungred,  and  ye  gave  me 
i  Cor.    no  meat.     It  is  written  to  the  believers,  Ye  are  the  body  of 
12,  27.   cftrigf      As  then  the  soul  dwelling  in  the  body,  though  it 
hungers  not  in  respect  of  its  spiritual  substance,  yet  hungers 
for  the  food  of  the  body,  because  it  is  yoked  to  the  body;  so 
the  Saviour  suffers  whatever  His  body  the  Church  suffers, 
though  He   Himself  be  impassible.     And  observe  how  in 
speaking  to  the  righteous  He  reckons  up  their  good  deeds 
under  their  several  kinds,  but  to  the  unrighteous  He  cuts  short 
the  description  under  the  one  head,  /  was  sick  and  in  prison, 
and  ye  visited  me  not,  because  it  was  the  part  of  a  merciful 
Judge  to  enlarge  and  dwell  upon  men's  good  deeds,  but  to 
pass  lightly  and   cursorily   over   their  evil  deeds.     CHRYS. 
Observe  how  they  had  failed  in  mercifulness,  not  in  one  or 
two  respects  only,  but  in  all ;  not  only  did  they  not  feed  Him 
when  He  was  hungry,  but  they  did  not  even  visit  Him  when 
He  was  sick,  which  was  easier.     And  look  how  light  things 
He  enjoins;  He  said  not,  /  was  in  prison,  and  ye  did  not  set 
me  free,  but,  and  ye  visited  me  not.   Also  His  hunger  required 
no  costly  dainties,  but  necessary  food.     Each  of  these  counts 
then  is  enough  for  their  punishment.     First,  the  slightness  of 
His  prayer,  viz.  for  bread;  secondly,  the  destitution  of  Him 
who  sought  it,  for  He  was  poor ;  thirdly,  the  natural  feelings 
of  compassion,  for  He  was  a  man;  fourthly,  the  expectation  of 
His  promise,  for  He  promised  a  kingdom ;  fifthly,  the  great 
ness  of  Him  who  received,  for  it  is  God  who  receives  in  the 


VER.  31 — 45.  ST.  MATTHEW.  867 

poor  man ;  sixthly,  the  preeminent  honour,  in  that  He  con 
descended  to  take  of  men ;  and,  seventhly,  the  righteousness 
of  so  bestowing  it,  for  what  He  takes  from  us  is  our  own. 
But  avarice  blinds  men  to  all  these  considerations.  GREG.  Greg. 
They  to  whom  this  is  said  are  the  wicked  believers,  who  are  u  ' sup' 
judged  and  perish;  others,  being  unbelievers,  are  not  judged 
and  perish ;  for  there  is  no  examination  of  the  condition  of  such 
as  appear  before  the  face  of  an  impartial  Judge  already  con 
demned  by  their  unbelief;  but  those  who  hold  the  profession 
of  the  faith,  but  have  not  the  works  of  their  profession,  are 
convicted  that  they  may  be  condemned.  These  at  least  hear 
the  words  of  their  Judge,  because  they  have  at  least  kept  the 
words  of  His  faith.  The  others  hear  no  words  of  their  Judge 
pronouncing  sentence  of  condemnation,  because  they  have 
not  paid  Him  honour  even  in  word.  For  a  prince  who  governs 
an  earthly  kingdom  punishes  after  a  different  manner  the 
rebellion  of  a  subject  and  the  hostile  attempts  of  an  enemy; 
in  the  former  case,  he  recurs  to  his  prerogative ;  against  an 
enemy  he  takes  arms,  and  does  not  ask  what  penalty  the  law 
attaches  to  his  crime.  CHRYS.  Thus  convicted  by  the  words 
of  the  Judge,  they  make  answer  submissively,  Lord,  when  saw 
we  thee  8$c.  ORIGEN  ;  Mark  how  the  righteous  dwell  upon 
each  word,  while  the  unrighteous  answer  summarily,  and  not 
going  through  the  particular  instances ;  for  so  it  becomes 
the  righteous  out  of  humility  to  disclaim  each  individual 
generous  action,  when  imputed  to  them  publicly ;  whereas 
bad  men  excuse  their  sins,  and  endeavour  to  prove  them  few 
and  venial.  And  Christ's  answer  conveys  this.  And  to  the 
righteous  He  says,  In  that  ye  did  it  to  my  brethren,  to  shew 
the  greatness  of  their  good  deeds ;  to  the  sinners  He  says 
only,  to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  not  aggravating  their  sin. 
For  they  are  truly  His  brethren  who  are  perfect ;  and  a  deed 
of  mercy  shewn  to  the  more  holy  is  more  acceptable  to  God 
than  one  shewn  to  the  less  holy  ;  and  the  sin  of  overlooking 
the  less  holy  is  less  than  of  overlooking  the  more  holy.  AUG.  Aug. 
He  is  now  treating  of  the  last  judgment,  when  Christ  shall  pej  J^. 
come  from  heaven  to  judge  the  quick  and  dead.  This1- 
day  of  the  Divine  judgment  we  call  the  Last  Day,  that  is, 
the  end  of  time ;  for  we  cannot  tell  through  how  many  days 
that  judgment  will  be  prolonged ;  but  day,  as  is  the  use  of 

3  K  2 


868  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV. 

holy  Scripture,  is  put  for  time.  And  we  therefore  call  it  the 
last  or  latest  judgment,  because  He  both  now  judges  and  has 
judged  from  the  beginning  of  the  human  race,  when  He 
thrust  forth  the  first  man  from  the  tree  of  life,  and  spared  not 
the  Angels  that  sinned.  But  in  that  final  judgment  both 
men  and  Angels  shall  be  judged  together,  when  the  Divine 
power  shall  bring  each  man's  good  and  evil  deeds  in  review 
before  his  memory,  and  one  intuitive  glance  shall  present 
them  to  the  perception,  so  that  at  once  we  shall  be  condemned 
or  acquitted  in  our  consciences. 

46.  And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  pu 
nishment  :  but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal. 

Aug.          AUG.  Some  deceive  themselves,  saying,  that  the  fire  indeed 

et  Op.    '1S  called  everlasting,  but  not  the  punishment.    This  the  Lord 

I6-        foreseeing,  sums  up  His  sentence  in  these  words.     ORIGEN  , 

Observe  that  whereas  He  put  first  the  invitation,  Come,  ye 

blessed,  and  after  that,  Depart,  ye  cursed,  because  it  is  the 

property  of  a  merciful  God  to  record  the  good  deeds  of  the 

good,  before  the  bad  deeds  of  the  bad ;  He  now  reverses  the 

order,  describing  first  the  punishment  of  the  wicked,  and  then 

the  life  of  the  good,  that  the  terrors  of  the  one  may  deter  us 

from  evil,  and  the  honour  of  the  other  incite  us  to  good. 

Greg.     GREG.   If  he  who  has  not  given  to  others  is   visited  with 

19,  " '  'so  heavy  a  punishment,  what  shall  he  get  who  is  convicted  of 

A          having  robbed  others  of  their  own.     AUG.  Eternal  life  is  our 

de  Ciy.  chief  good,  and  the  end  of  the  city  of  God,  of  which  the 

11.'       Apostle  speaks,  And  the  end  everlasting  life.     But  because 

Rom.  6,  eternai  ]jfe  might  be  understood  by  those  who  are  not  well 

versed  in  Holy  Scripture,  to  mean  also  the  life  of  the  wicked, 

because  of  the  immortality  of  their  souls,  or  because  of  the 

endless  torments  of  the  wicked ;  therefore  we  must  call  the 

end  of  this  City  in  which  the  chief  good  shall  be  attained, 

either  peace  in  life  eternal,  or  life  eternal  in  peace,  that  it  may 

Aug.      be  intelligible  to  all.     ID.  That  which  the  Lord  spoke  to  His 

j68  rn'  servant  Moses,  /  am  that  I  am,  this  we  shall  contemplate 

Exod.3,wnen  we  shall  live  in  eternity.     For  thus  the  Lord  speaks, 

John  17,  This  is  life  eternal,  that  they  might  know  thee  the  only  true 
3. 


VER.  46.  ST.  MATTHEW.  869 

God.  This  contemplation  is  promised  to  us  as  the  end  of 
all  action,  and  the  eternal  perfection  of  our  joys,  of  which 
John  speaks,  We  shall  see  him  as  he  is.  * 

JEROME  ;  Let  the  thoughtful  reader  observe  that  punishments 
are  eternal,  and  that  that  continuing  life  has  thenceforward  no 
fear  of  fall.  GREG.  They  say  that  He  held  out  empty  terrors  to  Greg. 
deter  them  from  sin.     We  answer,  if  He  threatened  falsely  to  ^°xr:v 
check  unrighteousness,  then  He  promised  falsely  to  promote  19. 
good  conduct.     Thus  while  they  go  out  of  the  way  to  prove 
God  merciful,  they  are  not  afraid  to  charge  Him  with  fraud. 
But,  they  urge,  finite  sin  ought  not  to  be  visited  with  infinite 
punishment ;   we  answer,  that  this  argument  would  be  just, 
if  the  righteous  Judge  considered  men's  actions,  and  not 
their  hearts.     Therefore  it  belongs  to  the  righteousness  of 
an   impartial   Judge,  that   those  whose   heart  would   never 
be  without  sin  in  this  life,  should  never  be  without  punish 
ment.     AUG.   And  the  justice  of  no   law  is  concerned  to  Aug. 
provide  that  the  duration  of  each  man's  punishment  should  pel  ^ 
be  the  same  with  the  sin  which  drew  that  punishment  upon  n- 
him.     There  never  was  any  man,  who  held  that  the  torment 
of  him,  who  committed  a  murder  or  adultery,  should  be 
compressed  within  the  same  space  of  time  as  the  commission 
of  the  act.     And  when  for  any  enormous  crime  a  man  is 
punished  with  death,  does  the  law  estimate  his  punishment 
by  the  delay  that  takes  place  in  putting  him  to  death,  and 
not  rather  by  this,  that  they  remove  him  for  ever  from  the 
society  of  the  living  ?      And  fines,  disgrace,  exile,  slavery, 
when  they  are  inflicted  without  any  hopes  of  mercy,  do  they 
not  seem  like  eternal  punishments  in  proportion  to  the  length 
of  this  life  ?     They  are  only  therefore  not  eternal,  because 
the  life  which  suffers  them  is  not  itself  eternal.     But  they 
say,  How  then  is  that  true  which  Christ  says,  With  what  Matt.  7, 
measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again,  if  tern-  ' 
poral   sin   is  punished   with    eternal   pain  ?      They  do  not 
observe  that  this  is  said  with  a  view,  not  to  the  equality  of 
the  period  of  time,  but  of  the  retribution  of  evil,  i.  e.  that 
he  that  has  done  evil  should  suffer  evil.     Man  was  made 
worthy  of  everlasting  evil,  because  he  destroyed  in  himself 
that  good  which  might  have  eternal.     GREG.  But  they  say,  Greg. 
no  just  man  takes  pleasure  in  cruelties,  and  the  guilty  servant ubl  SUP- 


870  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV. 

was  scourged  to  correct  his  fault.  But  when  the  wicked 
are  given  over  to  hell  fire,  to  what  purpose  shall  they  burn 
there  for  ever  ?  We  reply,  that  Almighty  God,  seeing  He  is 
good,  does  not  delight  in  the  torments  of  the  wretched  ;  but 
forasmuch  as  He  is  righteous,  He  ceases  not  from  taking 
vengeance  on  the  wicked  ;  yet  do  the  wicked  burn  not  without 
some  purpose,  namely,  that  the  righteous  may  acknowledge 
how  they  are  debtors  for  eternity  to  Divine  grace,  when  they 
see  the  wicked  suffering  for  eternity  misery,  which  themselves 
have  escaped  only  by  the  assistance  of  that  Divine  grace. 
Aug:  AUG.  But,  they  assert,  nobody  can  be  at  once  capable  of 
Dei,  '  suffering  pain,  and  incapable  of  death.  It  must  be  that  one 


xxi.  3.  ijve  jn  painj  |)Ut  it  need  not  be  that  pain  kill  him  ;  for  not 
even  these  mortal  bodies  die  from  every  pain  ;  but  the  reason 
that  some  pain  causes  their  death  is,  that  the  connection 
between  the  soul  and  our  present  body  is  such  that  it  gives 
way  to  extreme  pain.  But  then  the  soul  shall  be  united 
to  such  a  body,  and  in  such  a  way,  that  no  pain  shall  be 
able  to  overcome  the  connection.  There  will  not  then  be 
no  death,  but  an  everlasting  death,  the  soul  being  unable 
to  live,  as  being  without  God,  and  equally  unable  to  rid  itself 

Ib.  17.  of  the  pains  of  body  by  dying.  Among  these  impugners 
of  the  eternity  of  punishment,  Origen  is  the  most  merciful, 
who  believed  that  the  Devil  himself  and  his  Angels,  after 
sufferings  proportioned  to  their  deserts,  and  a  long  endurance, 
should  be  delivered  from  those  torments,  and  associated  with 
the  holy  Angels.  But  for  these  and  other  things  he  was  not 
undeservedly  rebuked  by  the  Church,  because  even  his 
seeming  mercy  was  thrown  away,  making  for  the  saints  real 
pains  in  which  their  sins  were  to  be  expiated,  and  fictitious 
blessedness,  if  the  joys  of  the  good  were  not  to  be  secure 
and  endless.  In  quite  another  way  does  the  mercy  of  others 
err  through  their  humane  sympathies,  who  think  that  the 
sufferings  of  those  men  who  are  condemned  by  this  sentence 
will  be  temporal,  but  that  the  happiness  of  those  who  are 
set  free  sooner  or  later  will  be  eternal.  Why  does  their 
charity  extend  to  the  whole  race  of  man,  but  dries  up  when 

Greg,     they  come  to  the  angelic  race  ?     GREG.  But  they  say,  How 

ubi  sup.  can  jjjgy  be  called  Saints,  if  they  shall  not  pray  for  their 
enemies  whom  they  see  then  burning  ?  They  do  not  indeed 


VER.  46.  ST.  MATTHEW.  871 

pray  for  their  enemies,  so  long  as  there  is  any  possibility  of 
converting  their  hearts  to  a  profitable  penitence,  but  how 
shall  they  pray  for  them  when  any  change  from  their  wicked 
ness  is  no  longer  possible  ?     AUG.  So  some  there  are  who  Aug.  de 
hold  out  liberation  from  punishment  not  to  all  men,  but  tODej' 
those  only  who  have  been  washed  in  Christ's  Baptism,  and  XX1- 19> 
have  been  partakers  of  His  Body,  let  them  have  lived  as 
they  will ;   because  of  that  which  the  Lord  speaks,  If  any  John  6, 

fil 

man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall  not  die  eternally.     Again, 
others  promise  this  not  to  all  who  have  Christ's  sacrament, 
but  to  Catholics  only,  however  ill  their  lives,  who  have  eaten 
Christ's  Body,  not  in  sacrament  only,  but  in  verity,  (inas 
much  as  they  are  set  in  the  Church,  which  is  His  Body,)  even 
though  they  should  afterwards  have  fallen  into  heresy  or 
idolatry  of  the  Gentiles.     And  others  again,  because  of  what 
is  written  above,  He  that  shall  endure  to  the  end,  the  same  Matt, 
shall  be  saved,  promise  this  only  to  those  who  persevere  in    '    ' 
the  Catholic  Church,  that  by  the  worthiness  of  their  founda 
tion,  that  is,  of  their  faith,  they  shall  be  saved  by  fire.     All 
these  the  Apostle  opposes  when  he  says,  The  works  of  the  Gal.  6, 
flesh  are  manifest,  which  are  these,  uncleanness,  fornication, 19> 
and  the  like ;    of  which  I  tell  you  before,  that  they  which 
do  such  things  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.     Who 
ever  in  his  heart  prefers  temporal  things  to  Christ,  Christ 
is  not  his  foundation,  though  he  seem  to  have  the  faith  of 
Christ.     How  much  more  then  is  he,  who  has  committed 
things    unlawful,    convicted    of    not   preferring    Christ,   but 
preferring  other  things  to  Him  ?     I  have  also  met  with  some 
who  thought  that  only  those  would  burn  in  eternal  torments 
who  neglected  to  give  alms  proportioned  to  their  sins ;   and 
for  this  reason   they  think   that   the  Judge   Himself  here 
mentions  nothing  else  that  He  shall  make  enquiry  of,  but 
of  the  giving  or  not   giving  alms.     But  whoso  gives  alms 
worthily  for  his  sins,  first  begins  with  himself;   for  it  were 
unmeet  that  he  should  not  do  that  to  himself  which  he  does  to 
others  when  he  has  heard  the  words  of  God,  Thou  shalt  love  Matt. 
thy  neighbour  as  thyself,  and  hears  likewise,  Be  merciful22'3®' 
to  thy  soul  in  pleasing  God?     He  then  who  does  not  to  his  30  24. 
own  soul  this  alms  of  pleasing  God,  how  can  he  be  said  to 
give  alms  meet  for  his  sins  ?     Why  we  are  to  give  alms  then 


872  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  MATTHEW.         CHAP.  XXV. 

is  only  that  when  we  pray  for  mercy  for  sins  past,  we  may 
be  heard ;  not  that  we  may  purchase  thereby  license  for 
continuing  in  sin.  And  the  Lord  forewarns  us  that  He 
will  put  alms  done  on  the  right  hand,  and  on  the  left  alms 
not  done,  to  hew  us  how  mighty  are  alms  to  do  away 
former  sins,  not  to  give  impunity  to  a  continuance  in  sin. 

ORIGEN  j  Or,  It  is  not  one  kind  of  righteousness  only  that 
is  rewarded,  as  many  think.  In  whatsoever  matters  any  one 
does  Christ's  commands,  he  gives  Christ  meat  and  drink, 
Who  feeds  ever  upon  the  truth  and  righteousness  of  His 
faithful  people.  So  do  we  weave  raiment  for  Christ  when  cold, 
when  taking  wisdom's  web,  we  inculcate  upon  others,  and  put 
upon  them  bowels  of  mercy.  Also  when  we  make  ready  with 
divers  virtues  our  heart  for  receiving  Him,  or  those  who 
are  His,  we  take  Him  in  a  stranger  into  the  home  of  our 
bosom.  Also  when  we  visit  a  brother  sick  either  in  faith 
or  in  good  works,  with  doctrine,  reproof,  or  comfort,  we  visit 
Christ  Himself.  Moreover,  all  that  is  here,  is  the  prison 
of  Christ,  and  of  them  that  are  His,  who  live  in  this  world, 
as  though  chained  in  the  prison  of  natural  necessity.  When 
we  do  a  good  work  to  these^  we  visit  them  in  prison,  and 
Christ  in  them. 


CHAP.  XXVI. 

1.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Jesus  had  finished 
all  these  sayings,  he  said  unto  his  disciples, 

2.  Ye  know  that  after  two  days  is  the  feast  of  the 
Passover,  and  the   Son  of  man   is   betrayed   to   be 
crucified. 


HILARY;  After  the  discourse  in  which  the  Lord  had 
declared  that  He  should  return  in  splendour,  He  announces 
to  them  His  approaching  Passion,  that  they  might  learn  the 
close  connection  between  the  sacrament  of  the  Cross,  and  the 
glory  of  eternity.  RABAN.  All  these  sayings,  i.  e.  about  the 
consummation  of  the  world,  and  the  day  of  judgment.  Or, 
finished,  because  He  had  fulfilled  in  doing  and  preaching  all 
things  from  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  to  His  Passion. 
ORIGEN  ;  Yet  it  is  not  all  barely,  but  all  these ;  for  there 
were  other  sayings  which  He  must  speak  before  He  should  be 
delivered  up.  AUG.  We  gather  from  John's  account,  that  six  Aug- de 
days  before  the  Passover,  Jesus  came  to  Bethany,  and  thence  EV?H. 
entered  Jerusalem  sitting  upon  the  ass,  after  which  were  done  ^8' 
the  things  related  to  have  been  done  at  Jerusalem.  We  under 
stand  therefore  that  four  days  elapsed  from  His  coming  to 
Bethany,  to  make  this  two  days  before  the  Passover.  The 
difference  between  the  Passover  and  the  feast  of  unleavened  v.  17. 
bread  is  this ;  the  name  Passover  is  given  to  that  one  day  on 
which  the  lamb  was  slain  in  the  evening,  that  is,  the  fourteenth 
moon  of  the  first  month ;  and  on  the  fifteenth  moon,  the  day 
that  the  people  came  out  of  Egypt,  followed  the  festival  of 
unleavened  bread.  But  the  Evangelists  seem  to  use  thevid< 

Acts  12 

terms  indifferently.    JEROME  ;  The  Passover,  called  in  Hebrew  3. 


874  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

Phase,  does  not  come  as  most  think  from  irctv^siv  '  to  suffer,'  but 
from  the  Hebrew  word  signifying  '  to  pass  over ;'  because  the 
destroyer  passed  over  when  he  saw  the  blood  on  the  doors  of 
the  Israelites,  and  smote  them  not;  or  the  Lord  Himself  walked 
on  high,  succouring  His  people.  REMIG.  Or,  because  by  the 
help  of  the  Lord  the  Israelitish  people,  freed  from  Egyptian 
bondage,  passed  forth  into  liberty.  ORIGEN;  He  said  not,  After 
two  days  will  be,  or  will  come,  the  feast  of  the  Passover,  but 
not  meaning  the  ordinary  annual  Passover,  but  that  Passover 
such  as  had  never  before  been,  the  Passover  will  be  offered1. 
REMIG.  Mystically,  that  is  called  the  Passover,  because 

J  J  ' 

on  that  day  Christ  passed  out  of  the  world  to  His  Father, 
from  corruption  to  incorruption,  from  life  to  death,  or 
because  He  redeemed  the  world  by  causing  it  savingly 
to  pass  from  the  slavery  of  the  Devil.  JEROME  ;  After 
the  two  days  of  the  shining  light  of  the  Old  and  of  the 
New  Testament,  the  true  Passover  is  slain  for  the  world. 
Also  our  Passover  is  celebrated  when  we  leave  the  things  of 
earth,  and  hasten  to  the  things  of  heaven. 

ORIGEN;  He  foretels  His  crucifixion  to  His  disciples,  add 
ing,  And  the  Son  of  Man  shall  be  delivered  to  be  crucified;  thus 
fortifying  them  against  that  shock  of  surprise,  which  the  sight 
of  their  Master,  led  forth  to  crucifixion,  would  otherwise  have 
occasioned  them.  And  He  expresses  it  impersonally  shall 
be  delivered,  because  God  delivered  Him  up  in  mercy  to  the 
human  race,  Judas  from  covetousness,  the  Priest  for  envy,  the 
Devil  through  fear  that  through  His  teaching  the  human  race 
would  be  plucked  out  of  His  hand,  little  aware  how  much 
more  that  would  be  effected  by  His  death,  than  either  by  His 
teaching  or  miracles. 

3.  Then  assembled  together  the  Chief  Priests,  and 
the  Scribes,  and  the  elders  of  the  people,  unto  the 
palace  of  the  High  Priest,  who  was  called  Caiaphas, 

4.  And  consulted  that  they  might  take  Jesus  by 
subtilty,  and  kill  him. 

5.  But  they  said,  Not  on  the  feast  day,  lest  there 
be  an  uproar  among  the  people. 

Gloss.        GLOSS.  Then  the  Evangelist  lays  before  us  the  hidden 


non  occ. 


VER.  3 5.  ST.  MATTHEW.  875 

springs  and  machinery  by  which  the  Lord's  Passion  was 
brought  to  pass.  REMIG.  This,  then,  is  to  be  referred  to  the 
preceding  words,  and  means  before  the  Feast  of  the  Passover. 
ORIGEN  ;  Not  true  Priests  and  elders,  but  Priests  and  elders 
of  what  seemed  the  people  of  God,  but  was  indeed  the  people 
of  Gomorrah  ;  these,  not  knowing  God's  High  Priest,  laid  a 
plot  against  Him,  not  recognising  the  firstborn  of  the  whole  Co1-  l  > 
creation,  yea,  even  against  Him  that  was  elder  than  them  all, 
did  they  take  counsel.  CHRYS.  With  such  ill  designs  they 
came  to  the  chief  Priest,  seeking  a  sanction  whence  a  prohi 
bition  should  have  issued.  There  were  at  that  time  several 
Chief  Priests,  while  the  Law  allowed  but  of  one,  whence  it 
was  manifest  that  the  dissolution  of  the  Jewish  state  was  having 
its  beginning.  For  Moses  had  commanded  that  there  should  be 
one  Chief  Priest,  whose  office  should  be  filled  up  at  death;  but 
in  process  of  time  it  grew  to  be  annual.  All  those  then  who 
had  been  Chief  Priests ',  are  here  called  Chief  Priests.  REMIG.  >«•«&,  «&,•• 
They  are  condemned  both  because  they  were  gathered  ««*'««'»» 
together,  and  because  they  were  the  Chief  Priests ;  for  the 
more  the  numbers,  and  the  higher  the  rank  and  station  of 
those  who  band  together  for  any  villany,  the  greater  the 
enormity  of  what  they  do,  and  the  heavier  the  punishment 
stored  up  for  them.  To  shew  the  Lord's  innocence  and 
openness,  the  Evangelist  adds,  that  they  might  take  Jesus  by 
subtilty,  and  kill  him.  CHRYS.  For  what  then  did  they 
conspire,  to  seize  Him  secretly,  or  put  Him  to  death  ?  For 
both ;  but  they  feared  the  people,  and  therefore  waited  till 
the  feast  was  over,  for  they  said,  not  on  the  feast-day.  For 
the  Devil  would  not  that  Christ  should  suffer  at  the  Passover, 
that  His  Passion  might  not  be  notorious.  The  Chief  Priests 
had  no  fear  in  respect  of  God,  namely,  that  their  guilt  might 
be  aggravated  by  the  season,  but  took  into  account  human 
things  only,  Lest  there  be  an  uproar  among  the  people. 
ORIGEN  ;  By  reason  of  the  parties  among  the  populace,  those 
who  favoured  and  those  who  hated  Christ,  those  who  believed 
and  those  who  believed  not.  LEO  ;  This  precaution  of  the  Leo, 
Chief  Priests  arose  not  from  reverence  for  the  festival,  but  ?<? r!?' 

o8j  2. 

from  care  for  the  success  of  their  plot ;  they  feared  an  insur 
rection  at  that  season,  not  because  of  the  guilt  the  populace 
might  thereby  incur,  but  because  they  might  rescue  Christ. 
CHRYS.  But  their  fury  set  aside  their  caution,  and  finding  a 


87fl  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

betrayer,  they  put  Christ  to  death  in  the  middle  of  the  feast. 
LEO  ;  We  recognise  here  a  providential  arrangement  whereby 
58,  i.  the  chief  men  of  the  Jews,  who  had  often  sought  occasion  of 
effecting  their  cruel  purposes  against  Christ,  could  never 
yet  succeed  till  the  days  of  the  paschal  celebration.  For  it 
behoved  that  the  things  which  had  long  been  promised  in 
symbol  and  mystery  should  be  accomplished  in  manifest 
reality,  that  the  typical  lamb  should  be  displaced  by  the  tnie, 
and  one  sacrifice  embrace  the  whole  catalogue  of  the  varied 
victims.  That  shadows  should  give  way  to  substance,  and 
copies  to  the  presence  of  the  original ;  victim  is  commuted  for 
victim,  blood  is  abolished  by  blood,  and  the  festival  of  the 
Law  is  at  once  fulfilled  and  changed. 

6.  Now  when  Jesus  was  in  Bethany,  in  the  house 
of  Simon  the  leper, 

7.  There  came  unto  him  a  woman  having  an  ala 
baster  box  of  very  precious  ointment,  and  poured  it 
on  his  head,  as  he  sat  at  meat. 

8.  But  when  his  disciples  saw  it,  they  had  indigna 
tion,  saying,  To  what  purpose  is  this  waste? 

9.  For  this  ointment  might  have  been  sold  for  much, 
and  given  to  the  poor. 

10.  When  Jesus  understood  it,  he  said  unto  them, 
Why  trouble  ye  the  woman?  for  she  hath  wrought  a 
good  work  upon  me. 

1 1 .  For  ye  have  the  poor  always  with  you ;  but  me 
ye  have  not  always. 

1 2.  For  in  that  she  hath  poured  this  ointment  on 
my  body,  she  did  it  for  my  burial. 

13.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Wheresoever  this  Gos 
pel  shall  be  preached  in  the  whole  world,  there  shall 
also  this,  that  this  woman  hath  done,  be  told  for  a 
memorial  of  her. 

Gloss.        GLOSS.  Having  set  before  us  the  counsels  of  the  chief  of 
non  occ.  fae  jews  concerning  the  death  of  Christ,  the  Evangelist  would 
proceed  to  follow  out  their  execution,  and  to  relate  the  bar 
gain  of  Judas  with  the  Jews  to  deliver  Him  up,  but  he  first 


VER.  6 13.  ST.  MATTHEW.  877 

shews  the  cause  of  this  betrayal.  He  was  grieved  that  the 
ointment  which  the  woman  poured  upon  Christ's  head  had 
not  been  sold  that  he  might  have  canied  off  something  out  of 
the  price  it  brought,  and  to  make  up  this  loss  he  was  willing 
to  betray  his  Master.  And  therefore  he  proceeds,  Now  when 
Jesus  was  in  Bethany,  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper. 
JEROME;  Not  that  he  was  a  leper  yet,  but  having  been  so, 
and  having  been  healed  by  the  Saviour,  he  retained  the  ap 
pellation  to  shew  forth  the  power  of  Him  who  healed  him. 
RABAN.  Alabaster  is  a  kind  of  marble,  white  but  marked  with 
veins  of  different  colours,  which  was  in  use  for  vessels  to  hold 
ointment,  because  it  was  said  to  preserve  it  from  corruption. 
JEROME  ;  Another  Evangelist  instead  of  '  alabastrum'  has  John 
*  nardum  pisticam,'  that  is,  genuine,  unadulterated.  RABAN.  12» 3' 
From  the  Greek  »iW/j,  faith,  whence  '  pisticus,'  faithful.  For 
this  ointment  was  pure,  unadulterated. 

OR«JEN;  Some  one  may  perhaps  think  that  there  are  four  dif 
ferent  women  of  whom  the  Evangelists  have  written,  but  I  rather 
agree  with  those  who  think  that  they  are  only  three ;  one  of  whom 
Matthew  and  Mark  wrote,  one  of  whom  Luke,  another  of  whom 
John.  JEROME  ;  For  let  no  one  think  that  she  who  anointed  His 
head  and  she  who  anointed  His  feet  were  one  and  the  same ; 
for  the  latter  washed  His  feet  with  her  tears,  and  wiped  them 
with  her  hair,  and  is  plainly  said  to  have  been  a  harlot.    But 
of  this  woman  nothing  of  this  kind  is  recorded,  and  indeed  a 
harlot  could  not  have  at  once  been  made  deserving  of  the  Lord's 
head.     AMBROSE  ;  It  is  possible  therefore  that  they  were  dif-  Am- 
ferent  persons,  and  so  all  appearance  of  contradiction  between  Lr°®'  '7 
the  Evangelists  is  removed.     Or  it  is  possible  that  it  was  the  37. 
same  woman  at  two  different  times  and  two  different  stages  of 
desert;  first  while  yet  a  sinner,  afterwards  more  advanced. 
CHRYS.  And  in  this  way  it  may  be  the  same  in  the  three  chyrs. 
Evangelists,  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke.     And   not  without  ,Hom- 
good  reason  does  the  Evangelist  mention  Simon's  leprosy,  to 
shew  what  gave  this  woman  confidence  to  come  to  Christ. 
The  leprosy  was  an  unclean  disease;  when  then  she  saw  that 
Jesus  had  healed  the  man  with  whom  He  now  lodged,  she 
trusted  that  He  could  also  cleanse  the  uncleanness  of  her 
soul;  and  so  whereas  other  women  came  to  Christ  to  be  healed 
in  their  bodies,  she  came  only  for  the  honour  and  the  healing 


878  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

of  her  soul,  having  nothing  diseased  in  her  body;  and  for 
this  she  is  worthy  our  highest  admiration.  But  she  in  John 
is  a  different  woman,  the  wonderful  sister  of  Lazarus. 
ORIGEN  ;  Matthew  and  Mark  relate  that  this  was  done  in  the 
house  of  Simon  the  leper ;  but  John  says  that  Jesus  came  to 
a  house  where  Lazarus  was;  and  that  not  Simon,  but  Mary 
and  Martha  served.  Further,  according  to  John,  six  days 
before  the  Passover,  He  came  to  Bethany  where  Mary  and 
Martha  made  Him  a  supper.  But  here  it  is  in  the  house  of 
Simon  the  leper,  and  two  days  before  the  Passover.  And  in 
Matthew  and  Mark,  it  is  the  disciples  that  have  indignation 
with  a  good  intent;  in  John,  Judas  alone  with  intent  to  steal; 

Greg,  in  Luke,  no  one  finds  fault.  GREG.  Or,  we  may  think  that 
^jg  jg  ^e  same  woman  whom  Luke  calls  a  sinner,  and  John 
names  Mary.  AUG.  Though  the  action  described  in  Luke 

Aug.     is  the  same  as  that  described  here,  and  the  name  of  him  with 

de  Cons.  whom  the  Lord  supped  is  the  same,  for  Luke  also  names 

Ev.  n.  V  . 

79.  Simon;  yet  because  it  is  not  contrary  to  either  nature  or  cus 
tom  for  two  men  to  bear  the  same  name,  it  is  more  probable 
that  this  was  another  Simon,  not  the  leper,  in  whose  house  in 
Bethany  these  things  were  done.  I  would  only  suppose  that 
the  woman  who  on  that  occasion  came  near  to  Jesus'  feet,  and 
this  woman,  were  not  two  different  persons,  but  that  the  same 
Mary  did  this  twice.  The  first  time  is  that  narrated  by  Luke ; 
for  John  mentions  it  in  praise  of  Mary  before  Christ's  coming 

John      to  Bethany,  It  was  that  Mary  who  anointed  the  Lord  with 

11'2'  ointment,  and  wiped  his  feet  with  her  hair,  whose  brother 
Lazarus  was  sick.  Mary  therefore  had  done  this  before. 
That  she  did  afterwards  in  Bethany  is  distinct  from  Luke's 
account,  but  is  the  same  event  that  is  recorded  by  all  three, 
John,  Matthew,  and  Mark.  That  Matthew  and  Mark  say  it 
was  the  Lord's  head  that  she  anointed,  and  John  His  feet,  is 
reconciled  by  supposing  that  she  anointed  both.  Against 
this  one  might  raise  a  cavil  from  what  Mark  says,  that  she 
anointed  His  head  by  breaking  the  box  over  it,  so  that 
there  could  be  none  of  the  ointment  left  with  which  to  anoint 
His  feet  also.  Let  such  caviller  understand,  that  His  feet 
were  first  anointed  before  the  box  was  broken,  and  there  re 
mained  in  it,  yet  whole,  enough  wherewith  to  anoint  the  head 
by  breaking  the  box  and  shedding  the  contents. 


VER.  6 — 13.  ST.  MATTHEW.  879 

ID.  But  let  not  any  suppose  that  the  Lord's  feet  were  by  this  Aug.  de 
woman  bathed  in  ointment  after  the  manner  which  the  luxuri-  Christ. 
ous  and  debauched  use.    In  all  things  of  this  nature,  it  is  not  the  '"•  12« 
thing  itself,  but  the  mind  of  him  who  uses  it,  that  is  in  fault. 
Whoso  uses  things  after  such  sort  as  to  pass  the  bounds  ob 
served  by  good  men  with  whom  he  lives,  either  has  some 
meaning1  in  what  he  does,  or  is  vicious.    What  then  is  vice  in  i  aliquid 
others,  in  a  divine  or  prophetic  person  is  a  sign  of  some  great  g^1" 
thing.     The  good  odour  is  the  good  report  which  one  has 
gained  by  the  works  of  a  good  life,  and  in  following  Christ's 
footsteps  sheds  a  most  precious  odour  on  His  feet.     ID.  Still  Aug.  de 
there  may  seem  to  be  some  discrepancy  between  the  narra-  ^on?: 
tive  of  Matthew  and  Mark,  who  say,  that  after  two  days  is  the  78. 
feast  of  the  Passover,  and  then  bring  Jesus  to  Bethany ;  and 
that  of  John,  who,  relating  this  history  of  the  ointment,  says 
Six  days  before  the  Passover.     They  who  urge  this  do  not 
understand  that  the  events  in  Bethany  are  in  Matthew  and 
Mark  inserted  out  of  their  place,  a  little  later  than  the  time  of 
their  occurrence.     Neither  of  them,  it  is  to  be  observed,  intro 
duce  their  account  with  *  afterwards.'     CHRYS.  The  disciples 
had  heard  their  Master  say,  /  will  have  mercy,  and  not  sacri-  jf  att>  9> 
Jice,  wherefore  they  thought  among  themselves,  If  He  accepts 13> 
not  burnt-offerings,  much  less  will  He  the  application  of  such 
ointment  as  this.     JEROME  ;  I  know  that  some  raise  a  cavil 
here,  because  John  says  that  Judas  alone  was  grieved  be 
cause  he  had  the  bag,  and  was  a  thief  from  the  beginning;  but 
Matthew,  that  all  the  disciples  were  sorrowful.     These  know 
not  the  figure  syllepsis,  by  which  one  name  is  put  for  many, 
and  many  for  one;  as  Paul  in  the  Epistle  to  the  HebrewsHeb.il, 
says,  They  were  sawn  asunder,  when  it  is  thought  that  one 37' 
only,  Esaias  namely,  was  so.     AUG.  We  may  however  under-  Aug.  de 
stand  that  the  other  disciples  thought  or  said  the  same,  or  g°nsjj 
that  they  assented  to  what  Judas  said,  and  thus  Matthew  and  79. 
Mark  have  described  their  common  consent.     But  Judas  said 
it  because  he  was  a  thief,  the  others  out  of  their  care  for  the 
poor;   and  John  desired  to  mention  it  only  in  the  case  of 
him  whose  thievish  propensity  he  thought  ought  to  be  re 
corded.     CHRYS.  The  disciples  then  thought  thus,  but  Jesus, 
who  saw  the  thoughts  of  the  woman,  suffered  it.     For  her 
piety  was  great,  and  her  ardour  unspeakable,  wherefore  He 


880  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

condescended  to  suffer  her  to  pour  the  ointment  on  His  head. 
As  the  Father  admitted  the  smoke  and  odour  of  the  slain 
victim,  so  also  Christ  admitted  this  votive  anointing  of  His 
head,  though  the  disciples,  who  saw  not  her  heart,  murmured. 
REMIG.  He  clearly  shews  that  the  Apostles  had  uttered  some 
thing  harsh  against  her,  when  He  says,  Why  trouble  ye  the 
woman  ?  And  beautifully  He  adds,  She  hath  wrought  a  good 
work  in  me}  as  much  as  to  say,  It  is  not  a  waste  of  ointment, 
as  ye  say,  but  a  good  work,  that  is,  a  service  of  piety  and  de 
votion.     CHRYS.  And  He  says  not  merely,  She  hath  wrought 
a  good  work,  but  says  first,   Why  trouble  ye  the  woman  ?  to 
teach  us  that  every  good  act  that  is  wrought  by  any,  even 
though  it  lack  somewhat  of  exact  propriety,  yet  we  ought  to 
receive,  cherish,  and  cultivate  it,  and  not  to  require  strict  cor 
rectness  in  a  beginner.     If  He  had  been  asked  before  this  was 
done  by  the  woman,  He  would  not  have  directed  its  doing; 
but  when  it  was  done,  the  rebuke  of  the  disciples  had  no 
longer  any  place,   and   He    Himself  to   guard  the  woman 
from  importunate  attacks  speaks  these  things  for  her  comfort. 
REMIG.     For  the  poor  ye  have  ever  with  you.     The  Lord 
shews  in  these  words  as  of  set  purpose,  that  they  were  not  to 
be  blamed  who  ministered  of  their  substance  to  Him  while 
He  dwelt  in  a  mortal  body ;  forasmuch  as  the  poor  were  ever  in 
the  Church,  to  whom  the  believers  might  do  good  whensoever 
they  would,  but  He  would  abide  in  the  body  with  them  but 
a  very  short  time;  whence  it  follows,   But  me  ye  shall  not 
hare  always.     JEROME;  Here  a  question  arises  how  the  Lord 
Matt,     should  have  said  elsewhere  to  His  disciples,  Lo,  lam  with  you 
2  '  20'   always,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world;   but  here,  Me  ye  shall 
not  have  always.     I  suppose  that  in  this  place  He  speaks  of 
His  bodily  presence,  which  shall  not  be  with  them  after  the 
resurrection  in  daily  intercourse  and  friendship,  as  it  is  now. 
REMIG.  Or,  it  is  to  be  explained  by  supposing  this  spoken  to 
Judas  only;  and  He  said  not,  Ye  have  not,  but  Ye  shall  not 
have,  because  this  was  spoken  in  the  person  of  Judas  to  all 
his  followers.     And  He  says,  Not  always,  though  they  have 
it  at  no  time,  because  the  wicked  seem  to  have  Christ  in  this 
present  world,  while  they  mix  among  His  members  and  ap 
proach  His  table,  but  they  shall  not  always  so  have  Him  when 
Matt.     He  shall  say  to  His  elect,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father.     It 

25,  34. 


VER.  6 — 13.  ST.  MATTHEW.  881 

was  the  custom  among  this  people  to  embalm  the  bodies  of  Matt, 
the  dead  with  divers  spices,  to  the  end  that  they  might  be  kept 
from  corruption  as  long  as  possible.  And  as  this  woman  was 
desirous  of  embalming  the  Lord's  dead  Body,  and  would  not 
be  able  because  she  would  be  anticipated  by  His  resurrection, 
it  was  therefore  arranged  by  Divine  Providence  that  she 
should  anoint  the  Lord's  living  Body.  This  then  is  what  He 
says,  In  that  she  hath  poured,  that  is,  By  anointing  My  living 
Body  she  shews  forth  My  death  and  burial.  CJJRYS.  That 
this  mention  of  His  death  and  burial  might  not  cause  her  to 
despond,  He  comforts  her  by  what  follows,  Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  Wheresoever  fyc.  RABAN.  That  is,  To  whatsoever  place 
throughout  the  whole  world  the  Church  shall  be  propagated) 
there  this  also  that  she  hath  done  shall  be  told.  That  also  that 
is  added  signifies,  that  as  Judas  by  his  reproof  of  her  has  earned 
evil  character  of  treachery,  so  has  she  also  earned  the  glory 
of  pious  devotedness.  JEROME;  Note  His  knowledge  of 
things  to  come,  how  though  about  to  suffer  death  within  two 
days,  He  knows  that  His  Gospel  will  be  preached  throughout 
the  whole  world.  CHRYS.  Behold  the  accomplishment  of  this 
saying;  to  whatsoever  part  of  the  world  you  go,  you  will  find 
this  woman  famous,  and  this  has  been  wrought  by  the  power 
of  Him  who  spake  this  word.  How  many  victories  of  kings 
and  captains  have  passed  into  oblivion ;  how  many  who  built 
cities  and  enslaved  many  nations  are  now  known  neither  by 
report  nor  by  name;  but  the  deed  of  this  woman  pouring 
forth  ointment  in  the  house  of  a  leper  in  the  presence  of  twelve 
men,  this  resounds  throughout  the  world,  and  though  so  much 
time  has  elapsed,  the  memory  of  that  which  was  done  is  not 
effaced.  But  why  promised  He  no  spiritual  gift  to  this 
woman,  but  everlasting  remembrance  only  ?  Because  this  He 
did  promise  made  her  confident  of  receiving  the  other  also; 
whereas  she  wrought  a  good  work,  it  is  clear  that  she  shall 
receive  an  adequate  reward. 

JEROME  ;  Mystically ;  The  Lord,  about  to  suffer  for  the 
whole  world,  sojourns  in  Bethany,  in  the  house  of  obedience, 
which  once  was  that  of  Simon  the  leper.  Simon  also  is 
interpreted  '  obedient,'  or,  according  to  another  interpretation , 
1  the  world,'  in  whose  house  the  Church  is  healed.  ORIGEN  ; 
Oil  is  throughout  Scripture  put  for  the  work  of  mercy,  with 

VOL.  I.  3  L 


882  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

which  the  lamp  of  the  word  is  fed ;  or  for  doctrine,  the 
hearing  of  which  sustains  the  word  of  faith  when  once  kindled. 
All  with  which  men  anoint  is  comprehensively  called  oil ; 
and  one  kind  of  oil  is  unguent,  and  one  kind  of  unguent 
is  precious.  So  all  righteous  acts  are  called  good  works ; 
and  of  good  works  there  is  one  kind  which  we  do  for,  or  to, 
men  ;  another  which  we  do  for,  or  to,  God.  And  this  like 
wise  that  we  do  for  God,  in  part  only  advances  the  good 
of  men,  in  part,  the  glory  of  God.  For  example,  one  does 
a  kindness  to  a  man  out  of  feelings  of  natural  righteousness, 
not  for  God's  sake,  as  the  Gentiles  sometime  did ;  such  a 
work  is  common  oil  of  no  fine  savour,  yet  is  it  acceptable 
to  God,  forasmuch,  as  Peter  says  in  Clement,  the  good 
works  that  the  unbelievers  do,  profit  them  in  this  world, 
but  avail  not  to  gain  them  eternal  life  in  another.  They 
who  do  the  same  for  God's  sake,  profit  thereby  not  in  this 
world  only  but  in  the  next  also,  and  that  they  do  is  ointment 
of  good  savour.  Another  sort  is  that  done  for  the  good 
of  men,  as  alms,  and  the  like.  He  who  does  this  to  Chris 
tians,  anoints  the  Lord's  feet,  for  they  are  the  Lord's  feet ; 
and  this  penitents  are  most  found  to  do  for  remission 
of  their  sins.  He  who  devotes  himself  to  chastity,  and 
continues  in  fastings  and  prayers,  and  other  things 
which  conduce  to  God's  glory  only,  this  is  the  ointment 
which  anoints  the  Lord's  head,  and  with  whose  odour  the 
whole  Church  is  filled  ;  this  is  the  work  meet  not  for  peni 
tents,  but  for  the  perfect,  or  the  doctrine  which  is  necessary 
for  men;  but  the  acknowledgment  of  the  faith  which  belongs 
to  God  alone,  is  the  ointment  with  which  the  head  of 
Rom.  6,  Christ  is  anointed,  with  which  we  are  buried  together  with 
Christ  by  baptism  into  death.  HILARY;  In  this  woman 
is  prefigured  the  people  of  the  Gentiles,  who  gave  glory  to 
God  in  Christ's  passion  ;  for  she  anointed  His  head,  but  the 
head  of  Christ  is  God,  and  ointment  is  the  fruit  of  good 
works.  But  the  disciples,  anxious  for  the  salvation  of  Israel, 
say  that  this  ought  to  have  been  sold  for  the  use  of  the  poor ; 
designating  by  a  prophetic  instinct  the  Jews,  who  lacked 
faith,  by  the  name  of  the  poor.  The  Lord  answers  that  there 
is  abundant  time  in  which  they  may  shew  their  care  for 
the  poor,  but  that  salvation  cannot  be  extended  to  the  Gentiles 


VER.  14 16.  ST.  MATTHEW.  883 

but  by  obedience  to  His  command,  if,  that  is,  by  the  pouring 
out  of  this  woman's  ointment  they  are  buried  together  with 
Him,  because  regeneration  can  only  be  given  to  those  who 
are  dead  in  the  profession  of  baptism.  And  this  her  work 
shall  be  told  wherever  this  Gospel  is  preached,  because  when 
Israel  draws  back,  the  glory  of  the  Gospel  is  preached  by 
the  belief  of  the  Gentiles. 

14.  Then  one  of  the  twelve,  called  Judas  Iscariot, 
went  unto  the  Chief  Priests, 

15.  And  said  unto  them,  What  will  ye  give  me, 
and  I  will  deliver  him  unto  you  ?     And  they  cove 
nanted  with  him  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver. 

16.  And  from  that  time  he  sought  opportunity  to 
betray  him. 

GLOSS.  Having  described  the  occasion  of  his  treachery,  Gloss. 
the  Evangelist  proceeds  to  recount  the  manner  of  it.     CHRYS.  no 
Then,  when,  that  is,  he  heard  that  this  Gospel  should  be 
preached  every  where ;    for  that  made  him  afraid,  as  it  was 
indeed  a  mark  of  unspeakable  power.     AUG.  The  order  of  Aug. 
the  narrative  is  this.     The  Lord  says,  Ye  know  that  after  ^v™a' 
two  days  will  be  the  feast  of  the  Passover;  . . .  then  assembled?8- 
together  the  Chief  Priests  and  Scribes;  .  .  .  then  went  one  of 
the  twelve.     Thus  the  narrative  of  what  took  place  at  Bethany 
is  inserted  by  way  of  digression,  respecting  an  earlier  time 
between  that,  Lest  there  be  an  uproar,  and,  Ttien  one  of  the 
twelve.     ORIGEN;    Went,  against  that  one  high  priest,  who 
was  made  a  Priest  for  ever,  to  many  high   priests,  to  sell 
for  a  price  Him  who  sought  to  redeem  the  whole  world. 
RABAN.   Went,  he  says,  because  he  was  neither  compelled, 
nor  invited,  but  of  his  own  free  will  formed  the  wicked  design. 
CHRYS.  One  of  the  twelve,  as  much  as  to  say,  of  that  first 
band  who  are  elected  for  preeminent  merit1.    GLOSS.  He  adds '  &prr',- 
his  distinctive  appellation,  Scarioth,  for  there  was  another  *"'  '^ 
Judas.     REMIG.  So  called  from  the  village  Scariotha,  from  Gloss. 
which  he  came.  LEO  ;  He  did  not  out  of  any  fear  forsake  Christ, 
but  through  lust  of  money  cast  Him  off ;    for  in  comparison 
of  the  love  of  money  all  our  affections  are  feeble ;   the  soul 
athirst  for  gain  fears  not  to  die  for  a  very  little  ;    there  is  no 

3  L  2 


884  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

trace  of  righteousness  in  that  heart  in  which  covetousness 
has  once  taken  up  its  abode.  The  traitor  Judas,  intoxicated 
with  this  bane,  in  his  thirst  for  lucre  was  so  foolishly  hardened, 
as  to  sell  his  Lord  and  Master.  JEROME;  The  wretched 
Judas  would  fain  replace,  by  the  sale  of  his  Master,  that 
loss  which  he  supposed  he  had  incurred  by  the  ointment. 
And  he  does  not  demand  any  fixed  sum,  lest  his  treachery 
should  seem  a  gainful  thing,  but  as  though  delivering  up  a 
worthless  slave,  he  left  it  to  those  who  bought,  to  determine 
how  much  they  would  give.  ORIGEN  ;  The  same  do  all 
who  take  any  material  or  worldly  things  to  cast  out  of  their 
thoughts  the  Saviour  and  the  word  of  truth  which  was  in 
them.  And  they  covenanted  u-ith  him  for  thirty  pieces  of 
silver,  as  many  pieces  as  the  Saviour  had  dwelt  years  in  the 
world*.  JEROME;  Joseph  was  not  sold  as  many,  following 
Gen.  37  ^e  LXX,  think  for  twenty  pieces  of  gold,  but  as  the  Hebrew 
28-  text  has  for  twenty  pieces  of  silver,  for  it  could  not  be  that 
Aug.  the  servant  should  be  more  valuable  than  his  Master.  AUG. 
Quaeat.  ^^  fae  Lord  was  sold  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver  by  Judas, 
41  denotes  the  unrighteous  Jews,  who  pursuing  things  carnal 
and  temporal,  which  belong  to  the  five  bodily  senses,  refuse 
to  have  Christ ;  and  forasmuch  as  they  did  this  in  the  sixth 
age  of  the  world,  their  receiving  five  times  six  as  the  price 
of  the  Lord  is  thus  signified ;  and  because  the  Lord's  words 
are  silver,  but  they  understood  even  the  Law  carnally,  they 
had,  as  it  were,  stamped  on  silver  the  image  of  that  worldly 
dominion  which  they  held  to  when  they  renounced  the  Lord. 
ORIGEN;  The  opportunity  which  Judas  sought  is  further 
Luke  explained  by  Luke,  how  he  might  betray  him  in  the  absence 
2  '  '  of  the  multitude ;  when  the  populace  was  not  with  Him, 
but  He  was  withdrawn  with  His  disciples.  And  this 
he  did,  delivering  Him  up  after  supper,  when  He  was 
withdrawn  to  the  garden  of  Gethsemane.  And  from  that 
time  forward,  such  has  been  the  season  sought  for  by 
those  that  would  betray  the  word  of  God  in  time  of  per- 

*  i.  e.  Before  He  began  His  ministry,  before  this  commentary  on  S.   Matt, 

as  what  follows  in  Origen  shews.     For  was  written.  In  it  he  more  than  once 

though  Origen  had  at  one  time  consi-  mentions  three  years  as  the  probable 

dered  the  duration  of  Our  Lord's  ministry  period,      vid.   Comm.  in    Matt.    Ser. 

not  to  have  exceeded  one  year  and  a  few  §.  40. 
months,  he  had  changed  that  opinion 


VER.  17 — 19.  ST.  MATTHEW.  885 

secution,  when  the  multitude  of  believers  is  not  around  the 
word  of  truth. 

17.  Now  the  first  day  of  the  feast  of  unleavened 
bread  the  disciples  came  to  Jesus,  saying  unto  him, 
Where  wilt  thou  that  we  prepare  for  thee  to  eat  the 
Passover  ? 

18.  And  he  said,  Go  into  the  city  to  such  a  man, 
and   say  unto  him,  The  Master  saith,  My  time  is 
at  hand ;    I  will  keep  the  Passover  at  thy  house  with 
my  disciples. 

19.  And  the  disciples  did  as  Jesus  had  appointed 
them ;  and  they  made  ready  the  Passover. 

GLOSS.  The  Evangelist  having  gone  through  the  events 
preliminary  to  the  Passion,  namely,  the  announcement  of  it,  non  occ. 
the  counsel  of  the  Chief  Priests,  and  the  covenant  for  His 
betrayal,  prosecutes  the  history  in  the  order  of  events,  saying, 
On  the  first  day  of  unleavened  bread.  JEROME;  The  first 
day  of  unleavened  bread  is  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  first 
month,  when  the  lamb  is  killed,  the  moon  is  at  full,  and 
leaven  is  put  away.  REMIG.  And  observe  that  with  the  Jews, 
the  Passover  is  celebrated  on  the  first  day,  and  the  following 
seven  are  called  the  days  of  unleavened  bread ;  but  here 
the  first  day  of  unleavened  bread  means  the  day  of  the  Pass 
over.  CHRYS.  Or,  by  the  first  day,  he  means  the  day  before  c 
the  days  of  unleavened  bread.  For  the  Jews  always  reckoned  Horn, 
their  day  from  the  evening ;  and  this  day  of  which  he  speaks  XXXK 
was  that  on  the  evening  of  which  they  were  to  kill  the 
Passover,  namely,  the  fifth  day  of  the  week*.  REMIG.  But 
perhaps  some  one  will  say,  If  that  typical  lamb  bore  a  type 
of  this  the  true  lamb,  how  did  not  Christ  suffer  on  the  night 
on  which  this  was  always  killed  ?  It  is  to  be  noted,  that  on 
this  night,  He  committed  to  His  disciples  the  mysteries  of 
His  flesh  and  blood  to  be  celebrated,  and  then  also  being 
seized  and  bound  by  the  Jews,  He  hallowed  the  commence 
ment  of  His  sacrifice,  i.  e.  His  Passion.  The  disciples  came 

fc  This  passage  has  been  altered  by     '  Velhancprimam  diem  azymorum  elicit 
the  text  of  S.  Chrys.     The  Catena  has,     quia  septem  dies  azymorum  erant. 


886  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

unto  him  ;  among  these  no  doubt  was  the  traitor  Judas. 
CHRYS.  Hence  it  is  evident  that  He  had  neither  house  nor 
lodging.  Nor,  I  conclude,  had  the  disciples  any,  for  they 
Aug.  would  surely  have  invited  Him  thither.  AUG.  Go  into  the 
Ev.  ii.  'city  to  such  a  man,  Him  whom  Mark  and  Luke  call  the 
80-  good-man  of  the  home,  or  the  master  of  the  house.  And 
when  Matthew  says,  to  such  a  man,  he  is  to  be  understood 
to  say  this  as  from  himself  for  brevity's  sake ;  for  every  one 
knows  that  no  man  speaks  thus,  Go  ye  to  such  a  man.  And 
Matthew  adds  these  words,  to  such  a  man,  not  that  the  Lord 
used  the  very  expression,  but  to  convey  to  us  that  the  disciples 
were  not  sent  to  any  one  in  the  city,  but  to  some  certain 
person.  CHRYS.  Or,  we  may  say  that  this,  to  such  a  man, 
shews  that  He  sent  them  to  some  person  unknown  to  them, 
teaching  them  thereby  that  He  was  able  to  avoid  His  Passion. 
For  He  who  prevailed  with  this  man  to  entertain  Him,  how 
could  He  not  have  prevailed  with  those  who  crucified  Him, 
had  He  chosen  not  to  suffer  ?  Indeed,  I  marvel  not  only 
that  he  entertained  Him,  being  a  stranger,  but  that  he  did 
it  in  contempt  of  the  hatred  of  the  multitude.  HILARY  ; 
Or,  Matthew  does  not  name  the  man  in  whose  house  Christ 
would  celebrate  the  Passover,  because  the  Christian  name  was 
not  yet  held  in  honour  by  the  believers.  RABAN.  Or,  he  omits 
the  name,  that  all  who  would  fain  celebrate  the  true  Passover, 
and  receive  Christ  within  the  dwelling  place  of  their  own 
minds,  should  understand  that  the  opportunity  is  afforded 
them,  JEROME  ;  In  this  also  the  New  Scripture  observes 
the  practice  of  the  Old,  in  which  we  frequently  read,  '  He 
said  unto  him,'  and  *  In  this  or  that  place,'  without  any  name 
of  person  or  place.  CHRYS,  My  time  is  at  hand,  this  He 
said,  both  by  so  manifold  announcements  of  His  Passion, 
fortifying  His  disciples  against  the  event,  and  at  the  same 
time  shewing  that  He  undertook  it  voluntarily.  /  will  keep 
the  Passover  at  tliy  house,  wherein  we  see,  that  to  the  very 
last  day  He  was  not  disobedient  to  the  Law.  With  my 
disciples,  He  adds,  that  there  might  be  sufficient  preparation 
made,  and  that  he  to  whom  He  sent  might  not  think  that  He 
e.  g.  desired  to  be  concealed.  ORIGEN  ;  Some  one  may  argue, 
Ebfon-  ^nat  Decause  Jesus  kept  the  Passover  with  Jewish  observances, 
ites.  we  ought  to  do  the  same  as  followers  of  Christ,  not  remem 
bering  that  Jesus  was  made  under  the  Law,  though  not  that  He 


VER.  20 25.  ST.  MATTHEW.  887 

should  leave  under  the  Law  those  who  were  under  it,  butGal.4,4. 
should  lead  them  out  of  it ;  how  much  less  fitting  then  is  it, 
that  those  who  before  were  without  the  Law,  should  after 
wards  enter  in  ?     We  celebrate  spiritually  the  things  which 
were  carnally  celebrated  in  the  Law,  keeping  the  Passover 
in  the  unleavened  bread  of  sincerity  and  truth,  according  i  Cor. 
to  the  will  of  the  Lamb,  who  said,  Except  ye  eat  my  flesh  jj^  g 
and  drink  my  blood,  ye  shall  not  have  life  in  you.  63. 


20.  Now  when  the  even  was  come,  he  sat  down 
with  the  twelve. 

21.  And  as  they  did  eat,  he  said,  Verily  I   say 
unto  you,  that  one  of  you  shall  betray  me. 

22.  And  they  were  exceeding  sorrowful,  and  began 
every  one  of  them  to  say  unto  him,  Lord,  is  it  I  ? 

23.  And  he  answered  and  said,  He  that  dippeth 
his  hand  with  me  in  the  dish,  the  same  shall  betray 
me. 

24.  The  Son  of  man  goeth  as  it  is  written  of  him  : 
but  woe  unto  that  man  by  whom  the  Son  of  man  is 
betrayed !    it  had  been  good  for  that  man  if  he  had 
not  been  born. 

25.  Then   Judas,  which  betrayed   him,  answered 
and  said,  Master,  is  it  I  ?     He  said  unto  him,  Thou 
hast  said. 


JEROME;  The  Lord  had  above  foretold  His  Passion, 
He  now  foretels  who  is  to  be  the  traitor ;  thus  giving 
him  place  of  repentance,  when  he  should  see  that  his 
thoughts  and  the  secret  designs  of  his  heart  were  known. 
REMIG.  With  the  twelve,  it  is  said,  for  Judas  was  per 
sonally  among  them,  though  he  had  ceased  to  be  so  in 
merit.  JEROME;  Judas  acts  in  every  thing  to  remove  all 
suspicion  of  his  treachery.  REMIG.  And  it  is  beautifully 
said,  When  even  was  come,  because  it  was  in  the  evening 
that  the  Lamb  was  wont  to  be  slain.  RABAN.  For  this 


888  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

reason  also,  because  in    Christ's  Passion,  wherein  the   true 
sun  hasted  to  his  setting,  eternal  refreshment  was  made  ready 
for  all  believers.     CHRYS.  The  Evangelist  relates  how  as  they 
sat  at  meat,  Jesus  declares  Judas'  treachery,  that  the  wicked 
ness  of  the  betrayer  may  be  more  apparent  from  the  season 
Leo,      and  the  circumstances.     LEO  ;  He  shews  that  the  conscience 
6gr|^      of  His  betrayer  was  known  to  Him,  not  meeting  his  wickedness 
with  a  harsh  and  open  rebuke,  that  penitence  might  find  a 
readier  way  to  one  who  had  not  been  disgraced  by  public 
dismissal.     ORIGEN;  Or,  He  spoke  generally,  to  prove  the 
nature  of  each  of  their  hearts,  and  to  evince  the  wickedness 
of  Judas,  who  would  not  believe  in  One  who  knew  his  heart. 
I  suppose  that  at  first  he  supposed  that  the  thing  was  hid  from 
Him,  deeming  Him  man,  which  was  of  unbelief;  but  when 
he  saw  that  his  heart  was  known,  he  embraced  the  conceal 
ment  offered  by  this  general   way  of  speaking,  which  was 
shamelesness.     This  also  shews  the  goodness  of  the  disciples, 
that  they  believed  Christ's  words  more  than  their  own  con- 
sciences^r  lltey  began  each  to  say,  Lord,  is  it  I?     For  they 
knew  by  what  Jesus  had  taught  them  that  human  nature  is 
Eph.  6,  readily  turned  to  evil,  and  is  in  continual  struggle  with   the 
12-        Tilers  of  tJie  darkness  of  this  world;  whence  they  ask  as  in 
fear,  for  by  reason  of  our  weakness  the  future  is  an  object  of 
dread  to  us.     When  the  Lord  saw  the  disciples  thus  alarmed 
for  themselves,  He  pointed  out  the  traitor  by  the  mark  of  the 
Ps.  41,  prophetic  declaration,  He  that  hath  eaten   bread  with  me 
9>          hath   wantonly   overthrown    me.      JEROME  ;    O    wonderful 
endurance  of  the  Lord,  He  had  said  before,  One  of  you  shall 
betray  me.     The  traitor  perseveres  in  his  wickedness ;  He 
designates  him   more  particularly,  yet  not  by  name.     For 
Judas,  while  the  rest  were  sorrowful,  and  withdrew  their  hands, 
and  bid  away  the  food  from  their  mouths,   with  the  same 
hardihood  and   recklessness  which  led  him  to  betray  Him, 
reached  forth  his  hand  into  the  dish  with  his  Master,  passing 
off  his   audacity  as   a   good  conscience.     CHRYS.  I  rather 
think  that  Christ  did  this  out  of  regard  for  him,  and  to  bring 
him    to    a    better    mind.      RABAN.    What  Matthew    calls 
*  paropsis,'  Mark  calls  *  catinus.'     The  '  paropsis'  is  a  square 
dish  for  meat,  '  catinus,'  an  earthen  vessel   for   containing 
fluids ;  this  then  might  be  a  square  earthen  vessel.     ORIGEN  ; 


VER.  20 — 25.  ST.  MATTHEW.  889 

Such  is  the  wont  of  men  of  exceeding  wickedness,  to  plot 
against  those  of  whose  bread  and  salt  they  have  partaken, 
and  especially  those  who  have  no  enmity  against  them. 
But  if  we  take  it  of  the  spiritual  table,  and  the  spiritual 
food,  we  shall  see  the  more  abundant  and  overflowing 
measure  of  this  man's  wickedness,  who  called  to  mind 
neither  his  Master's  love  in  providing  carnal  goods,  nor 
His  teaching  in  things  spiritual.  Such  are  all  in  the 
Church  who  lay  snares  for  their  brethren  whom  they  con 
tinually  meet  at  the  same  table  of  Christ's  Body.  JEROME; 
Judas,  not  withheld  by  either  the  first  or  second  warning, 
perseveres  in  his  treachery ;  the  Lord's  long-suffering  nou 
rishes  his  audacity.  Now  then  his  punishment  is  foretold,  that 
denunciations  of  wrath  may  correct  where  good  feeling  has  no 
power.  REMIG.  It  belongs  to  human  nature  to  come  and  go, 
Divine  nature  remains  ever  the  same.  So  because  His 
human  nature  could  suffer  and  die,  therefore  of  the  Son  of 
Man  it  is  well  said  that  he  goeth.  He  says  plainly,  As  it  is 
written  of  him,  for  all  that  He  suffered  had  been  foretold  by 
the  Prophets.  CHRYS.  This  He  said  to  comfort  His  disciples? 
that  they  might  not  think  that  it  was  through  weakness  that 
He  suffered ;  and  at  the  same  time  for  the  correction  of  His 
betrayer.  And  notwithstanding  His  Passion  had  been  foretold, 
Judas  is  still  guilty  ;  and  not  his  betrayal  wrought  our  salva 
tion,  but  God's  providence,  which  used  the  sins  of  others  to 
our  profit.  ORIGEN;  He  said  not,  By  whom  I  fie  Son  of  Man 
is  betrayed,  but  through  whom,  pointing  out  another,  to  wit?  John 
the  Devil,  as  the  author  of  His  betrayal,  Judas  as  the  min-  13'  2- 
ister.  But  woe  also  to  all  betrayers  of  Christ !  and  such  is 
every  one  who  betrays  a  disciple  of  Christ.  REMIG.  Woe 
also  to  all  who  draw  near  to  Christ's  table  with  an  evil  and 
defiled  conscience!  who  though  they  do  not  deliver  Christ  to 
the  Jews  to  be  crucified,  deliver  Him  to  their  own  sinful 
members  to  be  taken.  He  adds,  to  give  more  emphasis,  Good 
were  it  for  that  man  if  he  had  never  been  born.  JEROME; 
We  are  not  to  infer  from  this  that  man  has  a  being  before  birth ; 
for  it  cannot  be  well  with  any  man  till  he  has  a  being;  it  simply 
implies  that  it  is  better  not  to  be,  than  to  be  in  evil.  AUG.  And  Aug. 
if  it  be  contended  that  there  is  a  life  before  this  life,  that  will 

i. 

prove  that  not  only  not  for  Judas,  but  for  none  other  is  it  good  to  40. 


890  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

have  been  born.  Can  it  mean,  that  it  were  better  for  him 
not  to  have  been  born  to  the  Devil,  namely,  for  sin  ?  Or  does 
it  mean  that  it  had  been  good  for  him  not  to  have  been 
born  toChristathis  calling,  thathe  should  now  become  apostate? 
ORIGEN;  After  all  the  Apostles  had  asked,  and  after  Christ 
had  spoken  of  him,  Judas  at  length  enquired  of  himself,  with 
the  crafty  design  of  concealing  his  treacherous  purpose  by 
asking  the  same  question  as  the  rest;  for  real  sorrow  brooks 
not  suspense.  JEROME;  His  question  feigns  either  great  re 
spect,  or  a  hypocritical  incredulousness.  The  rest  who  were 
not  to  betray  Him,  said  only  Lord;  the  actual  traitor  ad 
dresses  Him  as  Master,  as  though  it  were  some  excuse  that 
he  denied  Him  as  Lord,  and  betrayed  a  Master  only.  ORIGEN  ; 
Or,  out  of  sycophancy  he  calls  Him  Master,  while  he  holds 
Him  unworthy  of  the  title.  CHRYS.  Though  the  Lord  could 
have  said,  Hast  thou  covenanted  to  receive  silver,  and  darest 
to  ask  Me  this?  But  Jesus,  most  merciful,  said  nothing  of 
all  this,  therein  laying  down  for  us  rules  and  landmarks  of 
endurance  of  evil.  He  saith  unto  him,  Thou  hast  said. 
REMIG.  Which  may  be  understood  thus ;  Thou  sayest  it,  and 
thou  sayest  what  is  true;  or,  Thou  hast  said  this,  not  I; 
leaving  him  room  for  repeniance  so  long  as  his  villainy  was 
not  publicly  exposed.  RABAN.  This  might  have  been  so  said 
by  Judas,  and  answered  by  the  Lord  as  not  to  be  overheard 
by  the  rest. 

26.  And  as  they  were  eating,  Jesus  took  bread,  and 
blessed  it,  and  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  the  disciples, 
and  said,  Take,  eat;  this  is  my  body. 

JEROME;  When  the  typical  Passover  was  concluded,  and 
He  had  partaken  of  the  Lamb  with  His  Apostles,  He  comes 

Gen.H, to  the  true  paschal  sacrament;  that,  as  Melchisedech,  Priest 
of  the  most  high  God,  had  done  in  foreshadowing  Christ, 
offering  bread  and  wine,  He  also  should  offer  the  present 

Aug.      verity  of  His  Body  and  Blood c.    AUG.   And  as  they  were  eating, 

7. 

c  Many  of  the  passages  here  quoted  compilation.     Whenever  they  can  be 

appear  to  have  been  taken  by  S.Thomas  found,  the  originals  are  referred  to  in 

from  the  Decretum  of  Gratia n,  though  the  margin,  and  the  important  difler- 

the  Catena  gives  no  reference  to  this  ences  or  additions  are  noticed  in  the  note. 


VER.  26.  ST.  MATTHEW.  891 

whereby  it  is  clearly  seen  that  at  their  first  partaking  of  the 
Lord's  Body  and  Blood,  the  disciples  did  not  partake  fasting. 
But  are  we  therefore  to  except  against  the  practice  of  the 
whole  Church,  of  receiving  fasting?  It  has  seemed  good  to 
the  Holy  Ghost,  that  for  the  better  honour  of  so  great  a  Sacra 
ment,  the  Lord's  Body  should  enter  the  Christian's  mouth 
before  other  food.    For  to  commend  more  mightily  the  depth  of 
this  mystery,   the  Saviour  chose  this  as  the  last  thing  He 
would  imprint  on  the  hearts  and  memory  of  His  disciples, 
from  whom  He  was  to  depart  to  His  Passion.     But  He  did 
not  direct  in  what  order  it  should  thenceforth  be  taken,  that 
He  might  reserve  that  for  the  Apostles  by  whom  He  would 
regulate  His  Church.    GLOSS.  Christ  delivered  to  us  His  Flesh  Gloss. 
and  Blood  under  another  kind,  and  ordained  them  to  benonocc- 
thenceforth  so  received,  that  faith  might  have  its  merit,  which 
is  of  things  that  are  not  seen.    AMBROSE11;  And  that  we  might  Ambr. 
not  be  shocked  by  the  sight  of  blood,  while  it  at  the  same  time  v?  ^CT' 
wrought  the  price  of  our  redemption.     AUG.  The  Lord  com- Aug.  in 
mitted  His  Body  and  Blood  to  substances  which  are  formed  a  ^"26 
homogeneous  compound  out  of  many.    Bread  is  made  of  many  I7.cf. 
grains,  wine  is  produced  out  of  many  berries.     Herein  the  227  i. 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  signified  us,  and  hallowed  in  His  own 
table  the  mystery  of  our  peace  and  unity.     REMIG.  Fittingly 
also  did  He  offer  fruit  of  the  earth,  to  shew  thereby  that  He 
came  to  take  away  the  curse  wherewith  the  earth  was  cursed 
for  the  sin  of  the  first  man.     Also  He  bade  be  offered  the 
produce  of  the  earth,  and  the  things  for  which  men  chiefly 
toil,  that  there  might  be  no  difficulty  in  procuring  them,  and 
that  men  might  offer  sacrifice  to  God  of  the  work  of  their 
hands.     AMBROSE;  Hence  learn  that  the  Christian  mysteries  Ambr. 
were  before  the  Jewish.     Melchisedech   offered  bread  and;,f  oacr* 

1V»  O» 

wine,  being  in  all  things  like  the  Son  of  God,  to  Whom  it  ispg  no 
said,  Thou  art  a  Priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Melchise-*- 
deck;    and    of  Whom  it   is    here    said,   Jesus  took  bread.  24. n 

The  present  passage  from  S.  Jerome  (in  cause  it  is  placed  in  the  Ben.  ed.  among 

loc.)  is  found  in  Gratian.  de  Cons.  ii.  the  genuine  works  of  S.  Ambrose,  and 

88  ;  that  which  follows  from  S.  Angus-  not  in  the  Appendix.     Bnt  there  seems 

tine,  ibid.  53.  The  next  passage  headed  to  be   little  doubt  of  its  spuriousness. 

4  Gloss.'  cannot  be  found  any  where.  See  Jenkyns'  note  to  Cranmer's  '  De- 

d  S.  Ambrose's  name  has  been  re-  fence,  &c.'   in   Cranmer's   Works,  ii. 

tained  at  the  head  of  the  passages  out  326. 
of  the  Treatise  '  De  Sacramentis,'  be- 


892  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO        CHAP.  XXVI. 

Gloss.  GLOSS.  This'  we  must  understand  to  be  wheat  bread,  for  the 
>cc'  Lord  compared  Himself  to  a  grain  of  wheat,  saying,  Except  a 
corn  fall  into  the  ground  fyc.  Such  bread  also  is  suitable  for 
the  Sacrament,  because  it  is  in  common  use;  bread  of  other 
kinds  being  only  made  when  this  fails.  But  forasmuch  as 
Christ  up  to  the  very  last  day,  to  use  the  words  of  Chrysostom 

p.  886.  as  above,  shewed  that  He  did  nothing  contrary  to  the  Law,  and 
the  Law  commanded  that  unleavened  bread  should  be  eaten  in 
the  evening  when  the  Passover  was  slain,  and  that  all  leavened 
should  be  put  away,  it  is  manifest  that  the  bread  which  the  Lord 

GreS-    took  and  gave  to  His  disciples  was  unleavened.     GREG.  It  has 

non  occ. 

given  trouble  to  divers  persons,  that  in  the  Church  some  offer 
unleavened  and  others  leavened  bread.  The  Roman  Church 
offers  unleavened,  because  the  Lord  took  flesh  without  any 

'com-  pollution ' ;  other*  Churches  offer  leavened  bread,  because  the 
Word  of  the  Father  took  flesh  upon  Him,  and  is  Very  God, 

*  Graecse  an(J  Very  Man ;  and  so  the  leaven  is  mingled  with  the  flour. 
But  whether  we  receive  leavened  or  unleavened,  we  are  made 

Ambr.   one  body  of  the  Lord  our  Saviour.     AMBROSE  ;  This  bread 

iv.  4.  before  the  sacramentary  words,  is  the  bread  in  common  use  ; 
after  consecration  it  is  made  of  bread  Christ's  flesh.  And 
what  are  the  words,  or  whose  are  the  phrases  of  consecration, 
save  those  of  the  Lord  Jesus?  For  if  His  word  had  power  to 
make  those  things  begin  to  be  which  were  not,  how  much 
rather  will  it  notbe  efficacious  to  cause  them  to  remain  what  they 
are,  while  they  are  at  the  same  time  changed  into  somewhat  else  ? 
For  if  the  heavenly  word  has  been  effectual  in  other  matters, 
is  it  ineffectual  in  heavenly  sacraments?  Therefore  of  the 
bread  is  made  the  Body  of  Christ,  and  the  wine  is  made  blood 
by  the  consecration  of  the  heavenly  wordf.  Dost  thou 
enquire  after  the  manner  ?  Learn.  The  course  of  nature 

•  This  Gloss  is  partly  from  the  Gloss  which  were  not,  how  much  rather  is  it 

on  Gratian  de  Cons.  d.  ii.  c.  5.  The  not  efficacious  to  make  those  things," 

next  passage  is  headed  '  Gregorius  in  i.  e.  the  bread,  not  begin,  but  "  continue 

Registro'  in  the  editions,  and  is  so  to  be,  which  were  already,  and  are 

quoted  by  S.  Thomas,  Sutnina  3.  q.  74.  but  changed  into  something  else?" 

art.  4.  but  cannot  be  found  in  S.  Greg.  2.  Next  he  illustrates  the  change  by  our 

1  ap.  Grat.  ibid.  54.  On  this  re-  own  change  in  regeneration.  "  Tu 

markable  passage  it  may  be  observed,  ipse  eras,  sed  eras  vetus  creatura  ; 

first,  S.  Ambrose  is  referring  to  the  postea  quam  consecratus  es,  nova  crea- 

creation,  and  his  meaning  is,  "  If  his  tura  esse  cepisti."  3.  There  is  no  in- 

word  had  power  to  make  these  things,"  troduction  of  the  word  substance,  i.  e. 

i.  e.  heaven  and  earth,  "  begin  to  be,  no  assertion  of  transubsUntiation. 


VER.  26.  ST.    MATTHEW.  893 

is,  that  a  man  is  not  born  but  of  man  and  woman,  but  by 
God's  will  Christ  was  born  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  a  Virgin. 
PASCHASIUS  ;    As  then  real  flesh  was  created  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  without  sexual    union,  so  by  the  same   Holy   Spirit 
the   substance  of  bread  and  wine  are  consecrated  into  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.      And  because  this  consecration 
is  made  by  the  Lord's  word,  it  is  added,  He  blessed*.    REMIG. 
Hereby  He  shewed  also  that  He  together  with  the  Father 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  has  filled  human  nature  with  the  grace 
of  His  divine  power,  and   enriched   it   with   the  boon  of 
immortality.     And  to  shew  that  His  Body  was  not  subject 
to  passion  but  of  His  own  will,  it  is  added,  And  brake, 
LANFRANC;  When  the  host  is  broken,  when  the  blood  is 
poured  from  the  cup  into  the  mouth  of  the  faithful,  what  else 
is  denoted  but  the  offering  of  the  Lord's  Body  on  the  cross, 
and  the  shedding  of  His  Blood  out  of  His  sideh  ?    DIONYSIUS;  Dionys. 
In  this  is  also  shewn,  that  the  one  and  uncompounded  Word  g^j."  3 
of  God  came  to  us  compounded  and  visible  by  taking  human  in  fin. 
nature   upon    Him,   and    drawing   to    Himself  our  society, 
made  us  partakers  of  the  spiritual  goods  which  He  distri 
buted,  as  it  follows,  And  gave  to  his  disciples.     LEO;  Not  Leo, 
excluding  the  traitor  even  from  this  mystery,  that  it  might  5g™' 
be  made  manifest  that  Judas  was  provoked  by  no  wrong,  but 
that  he  had  been  foreknown  in  voluntary  impiety.  AUG.  Peter  Aug. 
and  Judas  received  of  the  same  bread,  but  Peter  to  life,  Judas  l£*°£S' 
to  death.     CHRYS.  And  this  John  shews  when  he  says,  After  chrys. 
the  sop,  Satan  entered  into  him.     For  his  sin  was  aggravated110™:, 
in  that  he  came  near  to  these  mysteries  with  such  a  heart,  Johnis, 
and  that  having  come  to  them,  he  was  made  better  neither  2^' 
by  fear,  kindness,  nor  honour.     Christ  hindered  him  not, 
though  He  knew  all  things,  that  you  may  learn  that  He 
omits  nothing  which  serves  for  correction.     REMIG.  In  so 
doing  He  left  an  example  to  the  Church,  that  it  should 


8  This    passage   is    quoted    in    the  ninth  century,    '  De  Corpore  et  San- 

Bodl.   MS.  and  early  editions    of  the  guine  Dom.'  4. 

Cat.,  as*  Augustinus  in  Verb.  Dom.'  h  This  is  quoted  in  the  early  editions, 

Gratian  also  (de  Cons.  d.  ii.  72.)  gives  and  in    Gratian  de   Cons.   ii.    37-   as 

it    as    Augustine's,    hut    the    earliest  Augustinus  '  in  Libro  Sent.  Prosper." 

author  in  whom    it  is  found   is    Pas-  but  does  not  occur  in  that  collection  of 

chasius     Radbertus,    Abbot    of    Cor-  Prosper  as  we  have  it.     It  is  found  in 

bey,   and  a  well-known  writer  of  the  Laniranc  cont.  Bereng.  13. 


894  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

sever  no  one  from  its  fellowship,  or  from  the  communion  of 
the  Body  and  Blood  of  the  Lord,  but  for  some  notorious 
and  public  crime.  HILARY;  Or,  The  Passover  was  con 
cluded  by  the  taking  the  cup  and  breaking  the  bread  without 
Judas,  for  he  was  unworthy  the  communion  of  eternal  sacra 
ments.  And  that  he  had  left  them  we  learn  from  thence,  that 
he  returns  with  a  multitude. 

AUG.  *  And  said,  Take,  eat ;  The  Lord  invites  His  servants 

to  set  before  them  Himself  for  food.     But  who  would  dare 

to  eat  his  Lord  ?    This  food  when  eaten  refreshes,  but  fails 

not;  He  lives  after  being  eaten,  Who  rose  again  after  being 

put  to  death.     Neither  when  we  eat  Him  do  we  divide  His 

substance;  but  thus  it  is  in  this  Sacrament.     The  faithful 

know  how  they  feed  on  Christ's  flesh,  each  man  receives  a 

part  for  himself.     He  is  divided  into  parts  in  the  Sacrament, 

yet  He  remains  whole;  He  is  all  in  heaven,  He  is  all  in  thy 

heart.     They  are  called  Sacraments,  because  in  them  what  is 

seen  is  one  thing,  what  is  understood  is  another;    what  is 

seen  has  a  material  form,  what  is  understood  has  spiritual 

Aug.     fruit.     ID.  Let  us  not  eat  Christ's  flesh  only  in  the  Sacra- 

Xr.  27"'  nient,  for  that  do  many  wicked  men,  but  let  us  eat  to  spiritual 

!!•        participation,  that  we  may  abide  as  members  in  the  Lord's 

Ambr.   body,  that  we  may  be  quickened  by  His  Spirit.     AMBROSE  ; 

iv  5     '  Before  consecration,  it  is  bread ;  after  Christ's  words,  This  is 

my  body,  have  been  pronounced,  it  is  Christ's  Body. 

27.  And  he  took  the  cup,  and  gave  thanks,  and 
gave  it  to  them,  saying,  Drink  ye  all  of  it ; 

28.  For  this  is   my  blood  of  the  new  testament, 
which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins. 

29.  But  I  say  unto  you,  I  will  not  drink  hence 
forth  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  that  day  when 
I  drink  it  new  with  you  in  my  Father's  kingdom. 

REMIG.  The  Lord  having  given  His  disciples  His  Body 

1  This  passage,  headed  '  Augustinus'  to   which   Augustine's   name  is  there 

in  the  Bodl.  MS.,  and  '  Aug  de  Verb,  prefixed.     It  has  not  been  found  in  S. 

Dom.'  in  the  earlier  editions,  is  appa-  Augustine's  works.     But  it  is  found  in 

rently  taken  from  two  canons  in  the  Bede  on  1   Cor.  x.  who  also  quotes  it 

3d  pt.  of  Gratian,  viz.  c.  70.  and  c.  68.  from  '  Aug.  de  verb.  Evang.' 


VER.  27 29.  ST.  MATTHEW.  895 

under  the  element  of  bread1,  well  gives  the  cup  of  His 'sub 
Blood  to  them  likewise;  shewing  what  joy  He  has  in  o 
salvation,  seeing  He  even  shed  His  Blood  for  us.  CHRYS.  He 
gave  thanks  to  instruct  us  after  what  manner  we  ought  to 
celebrate  this  mystery,  and  shewed  also  thereby  that  He 
came  not  to  His  Passion  against  His  will.  Also  He  taught 
us  to  bear  whatsoever  we  suffer  with  thanksgiving,  and 
infused  into  us  good  hopes.  For  if  the  type  of  this  sacri 
fice,  to  wit,  the  offering  of  the  paschal  lamb,  became  the 
deliverance  of  the  people  from  Egyptian  bondage,  much 
more  shall  the  reality  thereof  be  the  deliverance  of  the  world. 
And  gave  it  to  them,  saying,  Drink  ye  all  of  it.  That 
they  should  not  be  distressed  at  hearing  this,  He  first  drank 
His  own  blood  to  lead  them  without  fear  to  the  communion 
of  these  mysteries.  JEROME  ;  Thus  then  the  Lord  Jesus  Hieron. 
was  at  once  guest  and  feast,  the  eater  and  the  things  eatenk.  J^e- 
CHRYS.  This  is  my  blood  of  the  new  testament;  that  is, dib- 
the  new  promise,  covenant,  law  ;  for  this  blood  was  promised 
from  of  old,  and  this  guarantees  the  new  covenant ;  for  as 
the  Old  Testament  had  the  blood  of  sheep  and  goats,  so  the 
New  has  the  Lord's  Blood.  REMIG.  For  thus  it  is  read, 
Behold  the  blood  of  the  covenant  which  the  Lord  hath  made  Exod. 

Q    J  Q 

with  you.     CHRYS.   And  in  calling  it  blood,  He  foreshews    ' 
His  Passion,  My  blood  .  .  .  which  shall  be  shed  for  many. 
Also  the  purpose  for  which  He  died,  adding,  For  the  remission 
of  sins ;  as  much  as  to  say,  The  blood  of  the  lamb  was  shed 
in  Egypt  for  the  salvation  of  the  first  born  of  the  Israelites, 
this  My  Blood  is    shed  for  the  remission  of  sins.     REMIG. 
And  it  is  to  be  noted,  that  He  says  not,  For  a  few,  nor, 
For  all,  but,  For  many ;   because  He  came  not  to  redeem 
a  single  nation,  but  many  out  of  all  nations.     CHRYS.  Thus 
saying,  He    shews  that    His    Passion   is   a  mystery  of  the 
salvation  of  men,  by  which  also  He  comforts  His  disciples. 
And  as  Moses  said,  This  shall  be  an  ordinance  to  thee  for  Ex.  12, 
ever,  so  Christ  speaks  as  Luke  relates,  This  do  in  remem-  |^ke 
brance  of  me.     REMIG.  And  He  taught  us  to  offer  not  bread  22, 19. 
only,  but  wine  also,  to  shew  that  they  who  hungered  and 
thirsted  after  righteousness  were  to  be  refreshed  by  these 
mysteries.     GLOSS.  As  the  refreshment  of  the  body  is  wrought  Gloss. 

nor.  occ. 
k  ap.  Grat.  de  Consecr.  d.  ii.  87. 


896  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

by  means  of  meat  and  drink,  so  under  the  form  of  meat 
and  drink  the  Lord  has  provided  for  us  spiritual  refreshment. 
And  it  was  suitable  that  for  the  shewing  forth  the  Lord's 
Passion  this  Sacrament  should  be  instituted  under  both  kinds. 
For  in  His  Passion  He  shed  His  Blood,  and  so  His  Blood 
was  separated  from  His  Body.  It  behoved  therefore,  that 
for  representation  of  His  Passion,  bread  and  wine  should 
be  separately  set  forth,  which  are  the  Sacrament  of  the  Body 
and  Blood.  But  it  should  be  known,  that  under  both  kinds 
the  whole  of  Christ  is  contained  ;  under  the  bread  is  contained 
the  Blood,  together  with  the  Body;  under  the  wine, the  Body 

Ambr.    together  with  the  Blood.  AMBROSIAST.  And  for  this  reason  also 

ii  26°F  °-O  we  celebrate  under  both  kinds,  because  that  which  we  re- 

Cyp.Ep.  ceive  availsforthe  preservation  of  both  body  and  soul.  CYPRIAN; 

Ctttil.  The  CUP  °f  ^e  Lord  is  not  water  only,  or  wine  only,  but  the 
two  are  mixed ;  so  the  Lord's  Body  cannot  be  either  flour 

Ambr.    only,  or  water  only,  but  the  two  are  combined1.     AMBROSE; 

deSacr.  jf  jyj;eicnise(iech  offered  bread  and  wine,  what  means  this 
mixing  of  water  ?  Hear  the  reason.  Moses  struck  the  rock,  and 
the  rock  gave  forth  abundance  of  water,  but  that  rock  was 
Christ.  Also  one  of  the  soldiers  with  his  spear  pierced 
Christ's  side,  and  out  of  His  side  flowed  water  and  blood, 
the  water  to  cleanse,  the  blood  to  redeem™.  REMIG.  For 

Kev.i7,  it  should  be  known,  that  as  John  speaks,  The  many  waters 
are  nations  and  people.  And  because  we  ought  always  to 
abide  in  Christ  and  Christ  in  us,  wine  mixed  with  water  is 
offered,  to  shew  that  the  head  and  the  members,  that  is, 
Christ  and  the  Church,  are  one  body;  or  to  shew  that  neither 
did  Christ  suffer  without  a  love  for  our  redemption,  nor  we 
can  be  saved  without  His  Passion.  CHRYS.  And  having 
spoken  of  His  Passion  and  Cross,  He  proceeds  to  speak  of 
His  resurrection,  /  say  unto  you,  I  will  not  drink  hence 
forth,  &c.  By  the  kingdom  He  means  His  resurrection. 
And  He  speaks  this  of  His  resurrection,  because  He  would 
then  drink  with  the  Apostles,  that  none  might  suppose  His 


1  To  signify,  as  S.  Cyprian  proceeds  people  begin   to  be   without  Christ." 

to  say,  the  union  between  Christ  and  This  passage  of  Cyprian  is  quoted  in 

His  faithful  people;  "  For  if  one  offer  Gratian.  de  Cons.  ii.  7. 

wine  only,  the  blood  of  Christ  begins  m  ap.  Gratian.  de  Cons,  d  ii.  83.  of. 

to  be  without  us;  if  water  only,  the  Paschas.  de  Corp.  et  Sang.  11. 


VER.  30 35.  ST.  MATTHEW.  897 

resurrection  a  phantasy.  Thus  when  they  would  convince 
any  of  His  resurrection,  they  said,  We  did  eat  and  drink  with  Acts  10, 
him  after  he  rose  from  the  dead.  This  tells  them  that 
they  shall  see  Him  after  He  is  risen,  and  that  He  will  be 
again  with  them.  That  He  says,  New,  is  plainly  to  be 
understood,  after  a  new  manner,  He  no  longer  having  a 
passible  body,  or  needing  food.  For  after  His  resurrection 
He  did  not  eat  as  needing  food,  but  to  evidence  the  reality 
of  the  resurrection.  And  forasmuch  as  there  are  some 
heretics  who  use  water  instead  of  wine  in  the  sacred  mys 
teries  n,  He  shews  in  these  words,  that  when  He  now  gave 
them  these  holy  mysteries,  He  gave  them  wine,  and  drank 
the  like  after  He  was  risen ;  for  He  says,  Of  this  fruit  of  the 
•vine,  but  the  vine  produces  wine,  and  not  water.  JEROME; 
Or  otherwise;  From  carnal  things  the  Lord  passes  to 
spiritual.  Holy  Scripture  speaks  of  the  people  of  Israel  as  ps.80,8. 
of  a  vine  brought  up  out  of  Egypt ;  of  this  vine  it  is  then  ^er'  2» 
that  the  Lord  says  He  will  drink  no  more  except  in  His 
Father's  kingdom.  His  Father's  kingdom  I  suppose  to  mean 
the  faith  of  the  believers.  When  then  the  Jews  shall  receive 
His  Father's  kingdom,  then  the  Lord  will  drink  of  their  vine. 
Observe  that  He  says,  Of  my  Father,  not,  Of  God,  for  to 
name  the  Father  is  to  name  the  Son.  As  much  as  to  say, 
When  they  shall  have  believed  on  God  the  Father,  and 
He  has  brought  them  to  the  Son.  REMIG.  Or  otherwise ; 
/  will  not  drink  of  the  fruit  of  this  vine,  i.  e.  I  will  no 
longer  take  pleasure  in  the  carnal  oblations  of  the  Synagogue, 
among  which  the  immolation  of  the  Paschal  lamb  held  an 
eminent  place.  But  the  time  of  My  resurrection  is  at  hand, 
and  the  day  in  which  exalted  in  the  Father's  kingdom, 
that  is,  raised  in  immortal  glory,  /  shall  drink  it  new  with 
you,  i.  e.  I  shall  rejoice  as  with  a  new  joy  in  the  salvation  of 
that  people  then  renewed  by  the  water  of  baptism.  AUG.  Or  Aug. 
otherwise;  When  He  says,  /  shall  drink  it  new  with  you, 
He  gives  us  to  understand  that  this  is  old.  Seeing  then 
that  He  took  body  of  the  race  of  Adam,  who  is  called  the 
old  man,  and  was  to  give  up  to  death  that  Body  in  His 
Passion,  (whence  also  He  gave  us  His  Blood  in  the  sacra- 

n  e.  g.  The  Encratites,  followers  of    Century.     See  Can.  Apost.  43  and  4& 
Saturninus  and  Tatian  in  the  second     of  Johnson's  Translation. 

•  VOL.  I.  3  M 


898  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

ment  of  wine,)  what  else  can  we  understand  by  the  new 
wine  than  the  immortality  of  renewed  bodies.  In  saying, 
/  will  drink  it  with  you,  He  promises  to  them  likewise  a 
resurrection  of  their  bodies  for  the  putting  on  of  immortality. 
With  you  is  not  to  be  understood  of  time,  but  of  a  like 
renewal,  as  the  Apostle  speaks,  that  we  are  risen  with  Christ, 
the  hope  of  the  future  bringing  a  present  j  oy .  That  that  which 
He  shall  drink  new  shall  also  be  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine, 
signifies  that  the  very  same  bodies  shall  rise  after  the  heavenly 
renewal,  which  shall  now  die  after  the  earthly  decay.  HILARY  ; 
It  seems  from  this  that  Judas  had  not  drunk  with  Him, 
because  He  was  not  to  drink  hereafter  in  the  kingdom;  but 
He  promises  to  all  who  partook  at  this  time  of  this  fruit  of 
Gloss,  the  vine  that  they  should  drink  with  Him  hereafter.  GLOSS. 
)CC'But  in  support  of  the  opinion  of  other  saints,  that  Judas 
did  receive  the  sacraments  from  Christ,  it  is  to  be  said,  that 
the  words  with  you  may  refer  to  the  greater  part  of  them, 
and  not  necessarily  to  the  whole. 


30.  And  when  they  had  sung  an  hymn,  they  went 
out  into  the  mount  of  Olives. 

31.  Then  saith  Jesus  unto  them,  All  ye  shall  be 
offended  because  of  me  this  night ;  for  it  is  written, 
I  will  smite  the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  of  the  flock 
shall  be  scattered  abroad. 

32.  But  after  I  am  risen  again,  I  will  go  before 
you  into  Galilee. 

33.  Peter  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Though 
all  men  shall  be  offended  because  of  thee,  yet  will  I 
never  be  offended. 

34.  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Verily  I    say  unto  thee, 
That  this  night,  before  the  cock  crow,  thou  shalt 
deny  me  thrice. 

35.  Peter   said  unto   him,   Though  I   should  die 
with  thee,  yet  will  I  not  deny  thee.     Likewise  also 
said  all  the  disciples. 


VER.  30 35.  ST.  MATTHEW.  899 

ORIGEN;  When  the  disciples  had  eaten  the  bread  of  bless 
ing,  and  drunk  of  the  cup  of  thanksgiving,  the  Lord  instructs 
them  in  return  for  these  things  to  sing  a  hymn  to  the  Father. 
And  they  go  to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  that  they  may  pass  from 
height  to  height,  because  the  believer  can  do  nought  in  the 
valley.  °  [BEDE  ;  Beautifully  after  the  disciples  have  been  Bede  in 
filled  with  the  Sacraments  of  His  Body  and  Blood,  and^1^0' 
commended  to  the  Father  in  a  hymn  of  pious  intercession, 
does  He  lead  them  into  the  mount  of  Olives;  thus  by  type 
teaching  us  how  we  ought,  by  the  working  of  His  Sacra 
ments,  and  the  aid  of  His  intercession,  mount  up  to  the 
higher  gifts  of  the  virtues  and  the  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
with  which  we  are  anointed  in  our  hearts.  RABAN.  This 
hymn  may  be  that  thanksgiving  which  in  John,  Our  Lord c- 1?- 
offers  up  to  the  Father,  when  He  lifted  up  His  eyes  and 
prayed  for  His  disciples,  and  those  who  should  believe 
through  their  word.  This  is  that  of  which  the  Psalm  speaks, 
The  poor  shall  eat  and  be  jilled,  they  shall  praise  the  Lord.]  ps.  22, 
CHRYS.  Let  them  hear  this,  who  like  swine  with  no  thought26' 
but  of  eating  rise  from  the  table  drunk,  when  they  should 
have  given  thanks,  and  closed  with  a  hymn.  Let  them  hear 
who  will  not  tarry  for  the  final  prayer  in  the  sacred  mysteries; 
for  the  last  prayer  of  the  mysteries  represents  that  hymn. 
He  gave  thanks  before  He  delivered  the  holy  mysteries  to 
the  disciples,  that  we  also  might  give  thanks;  He  sung  a 
hymn  after  He  had  delivered  them,  that  we  also  should  do 
the  like.  JEROME  ;  After  this  example  of  the  Saviour,  who 
soever  is  filled  and  is  drunken  upon  the  bread  and  cup  of 
Christ,  may  praise  God  and  ascend  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
where  is  refreshment  after  toil,  solace  of  grief,  and  knowledge 
of  the  true  light.  HILARY  ;  Hereby  He  shews  that  men  con 
firmed  by  the  powers  of  the  Divine  mysteries,  are  exalted 
to  heavenly  glory  in  a  common  joy  and  gladness.  ORIGEN  ; 
Suitably  also  was  the  mount  of  mercy  chosen  whence  to 
declare  the  offence  of  His  disciples'  weakness,  by  One  even 
then  prepared  not  to  reject  the  disciples  who  forsook  Him, 
but  to  receive  them  when  they  returned  to  Him.  JEROME  ; 

0  The  passages  between  brackets  are     MS.  They  appear  to  have  been  inserted 
not  found  in  the  earlier  Editions  of  the     by  Nicolai. 
Catena,  in  the  ED.  PR.  nor  the  Bodl. 

3  M2 


DOO  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

He  foretels  what  they  should  suffer,  that  they  might  not  after 
it  had  befallen  them  despair  of  salvation;  but  doing  penitence 
might  be  set  free.  CHRYS.  In  this  we  see  what  the  disciples 
were  both  before  and  after  the  cross.  They  who  could  not 
stand  with  Christ  whilst  He  was  crucified,  became  after  the 
death  of  Christ  harder  than  adamant.  This  flight  and  fear 
of  the  disciples  is  a  demonstration  of  Christ's  death  against 
those  who  are  infected  with  the  heresy  of  Marcion.  If  He 
had  been  neither  bound  nor  crucified,  whence  arose  the  terror 
of  Peter  and  the  rest?  JEROME  ;  And  He  adds  emphatically 

iThess.  this  night,  because  as  they  that  are  drunken  are  drunken 
by  night,  so  they  that  are  scandalized  are  scandalized  by 
night,  and  in  the  dark.  HILARY  ;  The  credit  of  this  pre 
diction  is  supported  by  the  authority  of  old  prophecy ;  It  is 
written,  I  mill  smite  the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  of  the  flock 
shall  be  scattered  abroad.  JEROME  ;  This  is  found  in  Zacharias 
in  words  different;  it  is  said  to  God  in  the  person  of  the 

Zech.  Prophet,  Smite  the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  will  be  scattered 
abroad.  The  good  Shepherd  is  smitten,  that  He  may  lay  down 
His  life  for  His  sheep,  and  that  of  many  flocks  of  divers  errors 
should  be  made  one  flock,  and  one  Shepherd.  CHRYS.  He 
produces  this  prophecy  to  teach  them  to  attend  to  the  things 
that  are  written,  and  to  shew  that  His  crucifixion  was  according 
to  the  counsel  of  God,  and  (as  He  does  throughout)  that  He 
was  not  a  stranger  to  the  Old  Testament,  but  that  it  prophesied 
of  Him.  But  He  did  not  suffer  them  to  continue  in  sorrow, 
but  announces  glad  tidings,  saying,  When  I  am  risen  again, 
I  will  go  be/ore  you  into  Galilee.  After  His  resurrection 
He  does  not  appear  to  them  immediately  from  heaven,  nor 
depart  into  any  far  country,  but  in  the  very  same  nation  in 
which  He  was  crucified,  almost  in  the  very  place,  giving 
them  thereby  assurance,  that  He  who  was  crucified  was  the 
same  as  He  who  rose  again,  thereby  to  cheer  their  cast-down 
countenances.  He  fixes  upon  Galilee,  that,  being  delivered 
from  fear  of  the  Jews,  they  might  believe  what  He  spoke  to 
them.  ORIGEN;  Also  He  foretels  this  to  them,  that  they 
who  now  were  somewhat  dispersed  in  consequence  of 
the  offence,  should  be  after  gathered  together  by  Christ 
rising  again,  and  going  before  them  into  Galilee  of  the 
Gentiles.  HILARY;  But  Peter  was  carried  so  far  by  his 


VER.  30 — 35.  ST.  MATTHEW.  901 

zeal  and  affection  for  Christ,  that  he  regarded  neither  the 
weakness  of  his  flesh  nor  the  truth  of  the  Lord's  words ;  as 
if  what  He  spake  must  not  come  to  pass,  Peter  ansivered 
and  said  unto  him,  Though  all  should  be  offended  because 
of  thee,  yet  will  I  never  be  offended.  GHRYS.  What  sayest 
thou,  Peter  ?  The  Prophet  says,  The  sheep  shall  be  scattered 
abroad,  and  Christ  has  confirmed  it,  yet  thou  sayest,  Never. 
When  He  said,  One  of  you  shall  betray  me,  thou  fearedst 
for  thyself,  although  thou  wert  not  conscious  of  such  a 
thought;  now  when  He  openly  affirms,  All  ye  shall  be 
offended,  you  deny  it.  But  because  when  he  was  relieved 
of  the  anxiety  he  had  concerning  the  betrayal,  he  grew  con 
fident  concerning  the  rest,  he  therefore  says  thus,  /  will 
never  be  offended.  JEROME;  It  is  not  wilfulness,  not  false 
hood,  but  the  Apostle's  faith,  and  ardent  attachment  towards 
the  Lord  his  Saviour.  REMIG.  What  the  One  affirms  by 
His  power  of  foreknowledge,  the  other  denies  through  love ; 
whence  we  may  take  a  practical  lesson,  that  in  proportion  as 
we  are  confident  of  the  warmth  of  our  faith,  we  should  be 
in  fear  of  the  weakness  of  our  flesh.  Peter  seems  culpable, 
first,  because  he  contradicted  the  Lord's  words;  secondly, 
because  he  set  himself  before  the  rest ;  and  thirdly,  because 
he  attributed  every  thing  to  himself  as  though  he  had  power 
to  persevere  strenuously.  His  fall  then  was  permitted  to 
heal  this  in  him ;  not  that  he  was  driven  to  deny,  but  left  to 
himself,  and  so  convinced  of  the  frailty  of  his  human  naturep. 
ORIGEN  ;  Whence  the  other  disciples  were  offended  in  Jesus, 
but  Peter  was  not  only  offended,  but  what  is  much  more, 
was  suffered  to  deny  Him  thrice.  AUG.  Perplexity  may  Aug.  de 
be  occasioned  to  some  bv  the  great  difference,  not  in  words  2on?:.  , 

"  '  .Lv.  iu.4. 

only,  but  in  substance,  of  the  speeches  in  which  Peter  is 
forewarned  by  Our  Lord,  and  which  occasion  his  pre 
sumptuous  declaration  of  dying  with  or  for  the  Lord.  Some 
would  oblige  us  to  understand  that  he  thrice  expressed  his 
confidence,  and  the  Lord  thrice  answered  him  that  he  would 
deny  Him  thrice  before  cock-crowing ;  as  after  His  resur 
rection  He  thrice  asked  him  if  he  loved  Him,  and  as  often 
gave  him  command  to  feed  His  sheep.  For  what  in  lan 
guage  or  matter  has  Matthew  like  the  expressions  of  Peter 

P  Remigius  has  borrowed  this  from  S.  Chrysostom,  in  loc. 


002  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO        CHAP.  XXVI. 

in  either  Luke  or  John  ?  Mark  indeed  relates  it  in  nearly  the 
same  words  as  Matthew,  only  marking  more  precisely  in  the 
Mark  Lord's  words  the  manner  in  which  it  should  fall  in,  Verily 
I  say  unto  thee,  that  this  day,  in  the  night,  before  the  cock 
crow  twice,  thou  shalt  deny  me  thrice.  Whence  some 
inattentive  persons  think  that  there  is  a  discrepancy  between 
Mark  and  the  rest.  For  the  sum  of  Peter's  denials  is  three; 
if  the  first  then  had  been  after  the  first  cock-crowing,  the 
other  three  Evangelists  must  be  wrong  when  they  make 
the  Lord  say  that  Peter  should  deny  Him  before  the  cock 
crow.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  he  had  made  all  three 
denials  before  the  cock  began  to  crow,  it  would  be  super 
fluous  in  Mark  to  say,  Before  the  cock  crow  twice.  Foras 
much  as  this  threefold  denial  was  begun  before  the  first  cock 
crow,  the  three  Evangelists  have  marked,  not  when  it  was  to 
be  concluded,  but  how  often  it  was  to  happen,  and  when  to 
begin,  that  is,  before  cock-crow.  Though  indeed  if  we 
understand  it  of  Peter's  heart  we  may  well  say,  that  the  whole 
denial  was  complete  before  the  first  cock-crow,  seeing  that 
before  that  his  mind  was  seized  with  that  great  fear  which 
wrought  upon  him  to  the  third  denial.  Much  less  therefore 
ought  it  to  disquiet  us,  how  the  three-fold  denial  in  three 
distinct  speeches  was  begun,  but  not  finished  before  cock 
crow.  Just  as  though  one  should  say,  Before  cock-crow 
you  will  write  me  a  letter,  in  which  you  will  revile  me  three 
times ;  if  the  letter  were  begun  before  any  cock-crow,  but 
not  finished  till  after  the  first,  we  should  not  therefore  say 
that  the  prediction  was  false.  ORIGEN  ;  But  you  will  ask, 
whether  it  were  possible  that  Peter  should  not  have  been 
offended,  when  once  the  Saviour  had  said,  All  ye  shall  be 
offended  in  me.  To  which  one  will  answer,  what  is  foretold 
by  Jesus  must  of  necessity  come  to  pass ;  and  another  will 
say,  that  He  who  at  the  prayer  of  Ninevites  turned  away  the 
wrath  He  had  denounced  by  Jonas,  might  also  have  averted 
Peter's  offence  at  his  entreaty.  But  his  presumptuous  con 
fidence,  prompted  by  zeal  indeed  but  not  a  cautious  zeal, 
became  the  cause  not  only  of  offence  but  of  a  thrice  repeated 
denial.  And  since  He  confirmed  it  with  the  sanction  of  an 
oath,  some  one  will  say  that  it  was  not  possible  that  he 
should  not  have  denied  Him.  For  Christ  would  have 


VER.  86 — 38.  ST.  MATTHEW.  903 

spoken  falsely  when  he  said,  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  if 
Peter's  assertion,  /  will  not  deny  thee,  had  been  true.  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  other  disciples  having  in  view  not  that 
which  was  first  said,  All  ye  shall  be  offended,  but  that  which 
was  said  to  Peter,  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  8$c,  made  a  like 
promise  with  Peter  because  they  were  not  comprehended  in 
the  prophecy  of  denial.  Peter  said  unto  him,  Though  I 
should  die  with  thee,  yet  will  I  not  deny  thee.  Likewise 
also  said  all  the  disciples.  Here  again  Peter  knows  not 
what  he  says ;  he  could  not  die  with  Him  who  was  to  die  for  all 
mankind,  who  were  all  in  sin,  and  had  need  of  some  one  to 
die  for  them,  not  that  they  should  die  for  others.  RABAN. 
Peter  understood  the  Lord  to  have  foretold  that  he  should 
deny  Him  under  terror  of  death,  and  therefore  he  declares 
that  though  death  were  imminent,  nothing  could  shake  him 
from  his  faith  ;  and  the  other  Apostles  in  like  manner  in  the 
warmth  of  their  zeal,  valued  not  the  infliction  of  death,  but 
human  presumption  is  vain  without  Divine  aid.  CHRYS. 
[I  suppose  also  that  Peter  fell  into  these  words  through 
ambition  and  boastfulness.  And  they  had  disputed  at  supper 
which  of  them  should  be  greatest,  whence  we  see  that  the 
love  of  empty  glory  disturbed  them  much.  And  so  to  deliver 
him  from  such  passions,  Christ  withdrew  His  aid  from  him. 
Moreover  observe  how  after  the  resurrection,  taught  by  his 
fall  he  speaks  to  Christ  more  humbly,  and  does  not  any  more 
resist  His  words.  All  this  his  fall  wrought  for  him ;  for 
before  he  had  attributed  all  to  himself,  when  he  ought 
rather  to  have  said,  I  will  not  deny  Thee  if  Thou  succour  me 
with  Thy  aid.  But  afterwards  he  shews  that  every  thing  is 
to  be  ascribed  to  God;  Wliy  look  ye  so  earnestly  upon  us,  as  Acts  3, 
though  by  our  own  power  and  holiness  we  had  made  this12' 
man  to  walk?]*  Hence  then  we  learn  the  great  doctrine, 
that  man's  wish  is  not  enough,  unless  he  enjoys  Divine 
support. 

36.  Then  cometh  Jesus  with  them  unto  a  place 
called  Gethsemane,  and  saith  unto  the  disciples,  Sit 
ye  here,  while  I  go  and  pray  yonder. 

i  Here  again  Nicolai  has  inserted  a  passage. 


GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

37.  And  he   took  with   him  Peter  and   the   two 
sons    of  Zebedee,  and   began   to    be  sorrowful    and 
very  heavy. 

38.  Then  saith  he  unto  them,  My  soul  is  exceeding 
sorrowful,  even  unto  death  :   tarry  ye  here,  and  watch 
with  me. 


REMIG.  The  Evangelist  had  said  a  little  above,  that  when 
they  had  sung  an  hymn  they  went  out    to  the  mount  of 
Olives;  to  point  out  the  part  of  the  mount  to  which  they 
took  their  way,  he  now  adds,  Then  came  Jesus  with  them 
Lute     to  a  garden  called  Gethsemane.     RABAN.  Luke  says,  To  the 
John9'  mount  °f  Olives,   and  John,    Went  forth  over   the   brook 
18,  i.     Cedron,  ichere  was  a  garden,  which  is  the  same   as  this 
Gethsemane,  and  is  a  place  where  He  prayed  at  the  foot  of 
mount  Olivet,  where  is  a  garden,  and  a  Church  now  built r. 
JEROME  ;    Gethsemane    is    interpreted,  *  The   rich   valley ;' 
and  there  He  bade  His  disciples  sit  a  little  while,  and  wait 
His  return  whilst  He  prayed  alone  for  all.     ORIGEN;  For 
it  was  not  fitting  that  He  should  be  seized  in  the  place 
where  He  had  sate  and  eaten  the  Passover  with  His  dis 
ciples.     Also  He  must  first  pray,  and  choose  a  place  pure 
Chrys.   f°r  prayer.      CHRYS.  He  says,  Sit  ye  here,  while  I  go  and 
Uxriii   Pray  yonc^r^  because  the  disciples  adhered  inseparably  to 
Christ;   but  it  was  His  practice  to  pray  apart  from  them, 
therein  teaching  us  to  study  quiet  and  retirement  for  our 
Dam.de  Payers.    DAMASCENUS;  But  seeing  that  prayer  is  the  sending 
olth  iii.up  the  understanding  to  God,  or  the  asking  of  God  things 
24.        fitting,  how   did  the   Lord   pray?     For   His  understanding 
needed  not  to  be  Jifted  up  to  God,  having  been  once  united 
hypostatically  to  God  the  Word.     Neither  could  He  need  to 
ask  of  God  things  fitting,  for  the  One  Christ  is  both  God  and 
Man.     But  giving  in  Himself  a  pattern  to  us,  He  taught  us 
to  ask  of  God,  and  to  lift  up  our  minds  to  Him.     As  He  took 
on  Him  our  passions,  that  by  triumphing  over  them  Himself, 
He  might  give  us  also  the  victory  over  them,  so  now  He  prays 

r  This  i&  probably  from    Arculfus'     tis,  c.  23.  (ap.  Act.  Benedict,  iv.  502.) 
account  in  Adamnunus  de  Locis  Sane-     as  he  quoted  him  by  name  above,  p.  95. 


VER.  36 — 38.  ST.  MATTHEW.  905 

to  open  to  us  the  way  to  that  lifting  up  to  God,  to  fulfil  for 
us  all  righteousness,  to  reconcile  His  Father  to  us,  to  pay 
honour  to  Him  as  the  First  Cause,  and  to  shew  that  He  is 
not  against  God.  RABAN.  When  the  Lord  prayed  in  the 
mountain,  He  taught  us  to  make  supplication  for  heavenly 
things ;  when  He  prays  in  the  garden,  He  teaches  us  to  study 
humility  in  our  prayer.  And  beautifully,  as  He  draws 
near  His  Passion,  does  He  pray  in  the  *  valley  of  fatness,' 
shewing  that  through  the  valley  of  humility,  and  the  richness 
of  charity,  He  took  upon  Him  death  for  our  sakes.  The 
practical  instruction  which  we  may  also  learn  from  this  is, 
that  we  should  not  suffer  our  heart  to  dry  up  from  the  rich 
ness  of  charity.  REMIG.  He  had  accepted  the  disciples'  faith 
and  the  devotedness  of  their  will,  but  He  foresaw  that  they 
would  be  troubled  and  scattered  abroad,  and  therefore  bade 
them  sit  still  in  their  places ;  for  to  sit  belongs  to  one  at  ease, 
but  they  would  be  grievously  troubled  that  they  should  have 
denied  Him.  In  what  fashion  He  went  forward  it  describes, 
And  taking  with  him  Peter  and  the  two  sons  of  Zebedee,  he 
began  to  be  sorrowful  and  very  heavy;  the  same  to  whom  He 
had  shewn  His  glory  in  the  mount.  HILARY  ;  These  words, 
He  began  to  be  sorrowful  and  very  heavy,  are  interpreted 
by  heretics  that  fear  of  death  assailed  the  Son  of  God,  being 
(as  they  allege)  neither  begotten  from  eternity,  nor  existing 
in  the  Father's  infinite  substance,  but  produced  out  of  nothing 
by  Him  who  created  all  things;  and  that  hence  He  was 
liable  to  anguish  of  grief,  and  fear  of  death.  And  He  who 
can  fear  death  can  also  die;  and  He  who  can  die,  though  He 
shall  exist  after  death,  yet  is  not  eternal  through  Him  who 
begot  Him  in  past  time.  Had  these  faith  to  receive  the 
Gospels,  they  would  know  that  the  Word  was  in  the  begin 
ning  God,  and  from  the  beginning  with  God,  and  that  the 
eternity  of  Him  who  begets  and  Him  who  is  begotten  is  one 
and  the  same.  But  if  the  assumption  of  flesh  infected  with 
its  natural  infirmity  the  virtue  of  that  incorruptible  substance, 
so  that  it  became  subject  to  pain,  and  shrinking  from  death, 
it  would  also  become  thereby  liable  to  corruption,  and  thus 
its  immortality  being  changed  into  fear,  that  which  is  in  it  is 
capable  of  at  some  time  ceasing  to  be.  But  God  ever  is 
without  measure  of  time,  and  such  as  He  is,  He  continues  to 


906  GOSPEL  ACCOllDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

be  eternally.     Nothing  then  in  God  can  die,  nor  can  God 

non.occ. 


Hieron.  j,ave  any  fear  springing  out  of  Himself.     JEROME  ;  But  we 


say  that  passible  man  was  so  taken  by  God  the  Son,  that  His 
Deity  remained  impassible.     Indeed  the  Son  of  God  suffered, 
not  by  imputation  but  actually,  all  that  Scripture  testifies,  in 
respect  of  that  part  of  Him  which  could  suffer,  viz.  in  respect 
Hil.  de  of  the  substance  that  He  had  taken  on  Him.     HILARY  ;  I 
10nn>  x*  suppose  that  there  are  some  who  offer  here  no  other  cause  of 
His   fear  than  His  passion  and  death.     I  ask  those  who 
think  thus,  whether  it  stands  with  reason  that  He  should 
have  feared  to  die,  who  banished  from  the  Apostles  all  fear 
of  death,  and  exhorted  them  to  the   glory  of  martyrdom? 
How  can  we  suppose  Him  to  have  felt  pain  and  grief  in  the 
sacrament  of  death,   who  rewards  with  life  those  who   die 
for  Him?     And  what  pangs  of  death  could  He  fear,  who 
came  to  death  of  the  free  choice  of  His  own  power?     And 
if  His  Passion  was  to  do  Him  honour,  how  could  the  fear 
Hil.  in  of  His  Passion  make  Him  sorrowful?     ID.  Since  then  we 
loc*       read  that  the  Lord  was  sorrowful,  let  us  discover  the  causes 
of  His  agony.     He  had  forewarned  them  all  that  they  would 
be  offended,  and  Peter  that  he  would  thrice  deny  his  Lord ; 
and  taking  him  and  James  and  John,  He  began  to  be  sorrow 
ful.   Therefore  He  was  not  sorrowful  till  He  took  them,  but  all 
His  fear  began  after  He  had  taken  them ;  so  that  His  agony 
was   not  for  Himself,  but  for   them   whom  He   had  taken. 
JEROME;  The  Lord  therefore  sorrowed  not  from  fear  of  suf 
fering,  for  for  this  cause  He  had  come  that  He  should  suffer, 
Matt    and  had  rebuked  Peter  for  his  fearfulness;  but  for  the  wretched 
14, 40.  jU(jaS)  for  the  offence  of  the  rest  of  the  Apostles,  for  the  re 
jection  and  reprobation  of  the  Jewish  nation,  and  the  over- 
Dam,     throw   of  unhappy  Jerusalem.     DAMAS.  Or  otherwise;   All 
Orth.iii.  things  which  have  not  yet  been  brought  into  existence  by 
231        their  Maker  have  a  natural  desire  of  existence,  and  naturally 
shun  non-existence.    God  the  Word  then,  having  been  made 
Man,  had  this  desire,  through  which  He  desired  food,  drink, 
and  sleep,  by  which  life  is   supported,  and  naturally  used 
them,  and  contrariwise  shunned  the  things  that  are  destructive 
of  life.     Hence   in   the  season   of  His    Passion   which   He 
endured  voluntarily,  He  had  the  natural  fear  and  sorrow  for 
death.    For  there  is  a  natural  fear  wherewith  the  soul  shrinks 


VER.  36—38.  ST.  MATTHEW.  907 

from  separation  from  the  body,  by  reason  of  that  close  sym 
pathy  implanted  from  the  first  by  the  Maker  of  all  things. 
JEROME;  Our  Lord  therefore  sorrowed  to  prove  the  reality  of 
the  Man  which  He  had  taken  upon  Him;  but  that  passion 
might  bear  no  sway  in  His  mind,  He  began  to  be  sorrowful 
by  pro-passion1;  for  it  is  one  thing  to  be  sorrowful,  and 
another  to  be  very  sorrowful.  REMIG.  By  this  place  are 
overthrown  the  Manichaeans,  who  said  that  He  took  an  unreal 
body  ;  and  those  also  who  said  that  He  had  not  a  real  soul, 
but  His  Divinity  in  place  of  a  soul1.  AUG.  We  have  the  'e.g. 
narratives  of  the  Evangelists,  by  which  we  know  that  Christ 


was  both  born  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  was  seized  by  A.u§- 
the  Jews,  scourged,  crucified,  put  to  death,  and  buried  in  a  QU8est. 
tomb,  all  which  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  taken  place  1*  80* 
without  a  body,  and  not  even  the  maddest  will  say  that  these 
things  are  to  be  understood  figuratively,  when  they  are  told 
by  men  who  wrote  what  they  remembered  to  have  happened. 
These  then  are  witnesses  that  He  had  a  body,  as  those  affec 
tions  which  cannot  be  without  mind  prove  Him  to  have  had 
a  mind,  and  which  we  read  in  the  accounts  of  the  same 
Evangelists,  that  Jesus  wondered,  was  angry,  was  sorrowful. 
ID.  Since  then  these  things  are  related  in   the  Evangelists,  Aug.  de 
they  are  not  surely  false,  but  as  when  He  willed  He  became  j)^t'x-1Vt 
Man,  so  likewise  when  He  willed  He  took  into  His  human  9- 
soul  these  passions  for  the  sake  of  adding  assurance  to  the 
dispensation.     We  indeed  have  these  passions  by  reason  of 
the  weakness  of  our  human  nature;  not  so  the  Lord  Jesus, 
whose  weakness  was  of  power.     DAMAS.  Wherefore  the  pas-  Dam. 
sions  of  our  nature  were  in  Christ  both  by  nature  and  beyond  ™' 
nature.     By  nature,  because  He  left  His  flesh  to  suffer  the  iii.  20. 
things  incidental  to  it;  beyond  nature,  because  these  natural 
emotions  did  not  in  Him  precede  the  will.     For  in  Christ 
nothing  befel  of  compulsion,  but  all  was  voluntary;  with  His 
will  He  hungered,  with  His  will  He  feared,  or  was  sorrowful. 
Here  His  sorrow  is  declared,  Then  saith  he  unto  them,  My 
soul  is  sorrowful  even  unto  death.    AMBROSE;  He  is  sorrow-  Amb.  in 
ful,  yet  not  Himself,  but  His  soul  ;  not  His  Wisdom,  not  His  43UC'  2' 
divine  Substance,  but   His   soul,  for   He   took   upon    Him 

1  On  this  word  see  above,  p.  185,  note. 


908  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

my  soul,  and  my  body.  JEROME  ;  He  is  sorrowful  not 
because  of  death,  but  unto  death,  until  He  has  set  the 
Apostles  free  by  His  Passion.  Let  those  who  imagine  Jesus 
to  have  taken  an  irrational  soul,  say  how  it  is  that  He  is 
thus  sorrowful,  and  knows  the  season  of  His  sorrow,  for 
though  the  brute  animals  have  sorrow,  yet  they  know  neither 
the  causes  of  it,  nor  the  time  for  which  it  must  endure. 
ORIOEN  ;  Or  otherwise ;  My  soul  is  sorrowful  even  unto 
death  ;  as  much  as  to  say,  Sorrow  is  begun  in  me,  but  not 
to  endure  for  ever,  but  only  till  the  hour  of  death  ;  that  when 
T  shall  die  for  sin,  I  shall  die  also  to  all  sorrow,  whose  begin 
nings  only  are  in  me.  Tarry  ye  here,  and  watch  icith  me ; 
as  much  as  to  say,  The  rest  I  bade  sit  yonder  as  weak, 
removing  them  from  this  struggle  ;  but  you  I  have  brought 
hither  as  being  stronger,  that  ye  may  toil  with  me  in  watching 
and  prayer.  But  abide  you  here,  that  every  man  may  stay 
in  his  own  rank  and  station  ;  since  all  grace,  however  great, 
has  its  superior.  JEROMK;  Or  the  sleep  which  He  would 
have  them  forego  is  not  bodily  rest,  for  which  at  this  critical 
time  there  was  no  room,  but  mental  torpor,  the  sleep  of 
unbelief. 

39.  And  he  went  a  little  farther,  and  fell  on  his 
face,  and  prayed,  saying,  O  my  Father,  if  it  be  pos 
sible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me  :    nevertheless  not  as 
I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt. 

40.  And  he  cometh  unto  the  disciples,  and  findeth 
them  asleep,  and  saith  unto  Peter,  What,  could  ye 
not  watch  with  me  one  hour  ? 

4 1 .  Watch  and  pray,  that  ye  enter  not  into  tempt 
ation  :   the  spirit  indeed  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is 
weak. 

42.  He  went  away  again    the    second    time,  and 
prayed,  saying,  O  my  Father,  if  this  cup   may  not 
pass  away  from  me,  except  I  drink   it,  thy  will   be 
done. 

43.  And  he  came  and  found  them  asleep  again  : 
for  their  eyes  were  heavy. 


VER.  39 44.  ST.  MATTHEW.  900 

44.  And  he  left  them,  and  went  away  again,  and 
prayed  the  third  time,  saying  the  same  words. 


ORIGEN  ;  He  took  with  Him  the  self-confident  Peter,  and 
the  others,  that  they  might  see  Him  falling  on  His  face  and 
praying,  and  might  learn  not  to  think  great  things,  but  little 
things  of  themselves,  and  not  to  be  hasty  in  promising,  but 
careful  in  prayer.  And  therefore,  He  went  forward  a  little^ 
not  to  go  far  from  them,  but  that  He  might  be  near  them  in 
His  prayer.  Also,  He  who  had  said  above,  Learn  of  me, 
for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  hearty  now  commendably 
humbling  Himself,  falls  on  His  face.  But  He  shews  His 
devotion  in  His  prayer,  and  as  beloved  and  well-pleasing  to 
His  Father,  He  adds,  Not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt,  teaching 
us  that  we  should  pray,  not  that  our  own  will,  but  that  God's 
will,  should  be  done.  And  as  He  began  to  have  fear  and 
sorrow,  He  prays  accordingly  that  the  cup  of  His  Passion 
may  pass  from  Him,  yet  not  as  He  wills,  but  as  His 
Father  wills ;  wills,  that  is,  not  according  to  His  Divine 
and  impassible  Substance,  but  according  to  His  human  and 
weak  nature.  For  in  taking  upon  Him  the  nature  of  human 
flesh,  He  fulfilled  all  the  properties  thereof,  that  it  might  be 
seen  that  He  had  flesh  not  in  appearance  only,  but  in  reality. 
The  believer  indeed  must  in  the  first  instance  be  loth  to 
incur  pain,  seeing  it  leads  to  death,  and  he  is  a  man  of  flesh; 
but  if  it  be  God's  will,  he  acquiesces  because  he  is  a  believer. 
For  as  we  ought  not  to  be  too  confident  that  we  may  not 
seem  to  make  a  boast  of  our  own  strength  ;  so  neither  ought 
we  to  be  distrustful,  lest  we  should  seem  to  charge  God  our 
helper  with  weakness.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  Mark  and 
Luke  write  the  same,  but  John  does  not  introduce  this  prayer 
of  Jesus',  that  this  cup  may  pass  from  Him,  because  the 
first  three  are  rather  occupied  about  Him,  according  to  His 
human  nature,  John  according  to  His  divine.  Otherwise  ; 
Jesus  makes  this  petition,  because  He  sees  what  the  Jews 
will  suffer  for  requiring  His  death.  JEROME;  Whence  He 
says  emphatically,  This  cup,  that  is,  of  this  people  of  the 
Jews,  who,  if  they  shall  put  Me  to  death,  can  have  no  excuse 
for  their  ignorance,  seeing  they  have  the  Law  and  the  Pro- 


910  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

phets,  who  speak  of  Me.  ORIGEN;  Then  again  considering 
the  benefit  that  would  accrue  to  the  whole  world  from  His 
Passion,  He  says,  But  not  as  I  will,  but  as  tliou  wilt ;  i.  e. 
If  it  be  possible  for  all  these  benefits  which  shall  result  from 
My  Passion  to  be  procured  without  it,  let  it  pass  from  Me, 
and  both  the  world  be  saved,  and  the  Jews  not  be  condemned 
in  putting  Me  to  death.  But  if  the  salvation  of  many  cannot 
be  procured  without  the  destruction  of  a  few,  saving  Thy 
justice,  let  it  not  pass  away.  Scripture,  in  many  places, 
speaks  of  passion  as  a  cup  that  is  drained ;  and  it  is  drained 
by  him,  who  in  testimony  suffers  whatever  is  inflicted  upon 
him.  He  sheds  it,  on  the  contrary,  who  denies  in  order 
Aug.  de  to  avoid  suffering.  AUG.  And  that  none  might  think  that 
Evlii  4.  **e  limited  His  Father's  power,  He  said  not,  If  tliou  canst 
do  it,  but  If  it  may  be,  or,  If  it  be  possible ;  as  much  as  to 
say,  If  thou  wilt.  For  whatever  God  wills  can  be  done, 
as  Luke  expresses  more  plainly ;  for  he  says  not,  If  it  be 
possible,  but  If  thou  wilt.  HILARY  ;  Otherwise  ;  He  says 
not,  Let  this  cup  pass  away  from  Me,  for  that  would  be  the 
speech  of  one  who  feared  it ;  but  He  prays  that  it  may  pass 
not  so  as  that  He  should  be  passed  over,  but  that  when  it 
has  passed  from  Him,  it  may  go  to  another.  His  whole  fear 
then  is  for  those  who  were  to  suffer,  and  therefore  He  prays 
for  those  who  were  to  suffer  after  Him,  saying,  Let  this  cup 
pass  from  me,  i.  e.  as  it  is  drunk  by  Me,  so  let  it  be  drunk  by 
these,  without  mistrust,  without  sense  of  pain,  without  fear 
of  death.  He  says,  If  it  be  possible,  because  flesh  and 
blood  shrink  from  these  things,  and  it  is  hard  for  human 
bodies  not  to  sink  beneath  their  infliction.  That  He  says, 
Not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt,  He  would  fain  indeed  that 
they  should  not  suffer,  lest  their  faith  should  fail  in  their 
sufferings,  if  indeed  we  might  attain  to  the  glory  of  our  joint 
inheritance  with  Him  without  the  hardship  of  sharing  in  His 
Passion.  He  says,  Not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt,  because 
it  is  the  Father's  will  that  strength  to  drink  of  the  cup  should 
pass  from  Him  to  them,  that  the  Devil  might  be  vanquished 
Aug.  in  not  so  much  by  Christ  as  by  His  disciples  also.  AUG.  Christ 
tnus  as  man  snews  a  certain  private  human  will,  in  which  He 
who  is  our  head  figures  both  His  own  will  and  ours  when 
He  says,  Let  it  pass  from  me.  For  this  was  His  human  will 


VER.  39 44.  ST.  MATTHEW.  911 

choosing  something  as  apart  for  Himself.  But  because  as 
man  He  would  be  righteous  and  guide  Himself  by  God's 
will,  He  adds,  Nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  will ; 
as  much  as  to  say  to  us,  Man,  behold  thyself  in  Me,  that  thou 
canst  will  somewhat  apart  of  thyself,  and  though  God's  will  is 
other,  this  is  permitted  to  human  frailty.  LEO  ;  This  speech  Leo, 
of  the  Head  is  the  health  of  the  whole  body,  this  saying  is  5|r  5>' 
instruction  to  the  faithful,  animates  the  confessor,  crowns  the 
martyr.  For  who  could  vanquish  the  hatred  of  the  world,  or 
the  whirlwind  of  temptations,  or  the  terrors  of  the  persecutors, 
if  Christ  did  not  in  all  and  for  all  say  to  the  Father,  Thy 
will  be  done.  Let  all  the  sons  of  the  Church  then  utter 
this  prayer,  that  when  the  pressure  of  some  mighty  tempta 
tion  lies  upon  them,  they  may  embrace  endurance  of  the 
suffering,  disregarding  its  terrors.  ORIGEN;  And  though 
Jesus  went  but  a  little  forward,  they  could  not  watch 
one  hour  in  His  absence;  let  us  therefore  pray  that  Jesus 
may  never  depart  even  a  little  from  us.  CHRYS.  He  finds 
them  sleeping,  both  because  it  was  a  late  hour  of  the  night, 
and  their  eyes  were  heavy  with  sorrow.  HILARY;  When 
then  He  returned  to  His  disciples  and  found  them  sleeping, 
He  rebukes  Peter,  Could  ye  not  watch  one  hour  with  me  ? 
He  addresses  Peter  rather  than  the  rest,  because  he  had  most 
loudly  boasted  that  he  would  not  be  offended.  CHRYS.  But 
as  they  had  all  said  the  same,  He  charges  them  all  with 
weakness;  they  had  chosen  to  die  with  Christ,  and  yet  could 
not  even  watch  with  Him.  ORIGEN;  Finding  them  thus 
sleeping,  He  rouses  them  with  a  word  to  hearken,  and  com 
mands  them  to  watch;  Watch  and  pray,  that  ye  enter  not 
into  temptation;  that  first  we  should  watch,  and  so  watching 
pray.  He  watches  who  does  good  works,  and  is  careful  that 
He  does  not  run  into  any  dark  doctrine,  for  so  the  prayer  of 
the  watchful  is  heard.  JEROME  ;  It  is  impossible  that  the 
human  mind  should  not  be  tempted,  therefore  He  says  not 
Watch  and  pray  that  ye  be  not  tempted,  but  that  ye  enter 
not  into  temptation,  that  is,  that  temptation  vanquish  you 
not.  HILARY;  And  why  He  thus  encouraged  them  to  pray 
that  they  might  not  enter  into  temptation,  He  adds,  For  the 
spirit  indeed  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak;  this  He  says 
not  of  Himself,  but  addresses  them.  JEROME;  This  is 


912  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

against  those  rash  persons  who  think  that  whatever  they 
believe  they  can  perform.  The  more  confident  we  are  of 
our  zeal,  the  more  mistrustful  should  we  be  of  the  frailty  of 
the  flesh.  ORIGEN;  Here  it  should  be  enquired,  whether  as 
all  men's  flesh  is  weak,  so  all  men's  spirit  is  willing,  or 
whether  only  that  of  the  saints;  and  whether  in  unbelievers 
the  spirit  is  not  also  dull,  as  the  flesh  is  weak.  In  another 
sense  the  flesh  of  those  only  is  weak  whose  spirit  is  willing, 
and  who  with  their  willing  spirit  do  mortify  the  deeds  of  the 
flesh.  These  then  He  would  have  watch  and  pray  that  they 
should  not  enter  into  temptation,  for  the  more  spiritual  any 
one  may  be,  the  more  careful  should  he  be  that  his  goodness 
should  not  suffer  a  great  fall.  REMIG.  Otherwise;  In  these 
words  He  shews  that  He  took  real  flesh  of  the  Virgin,  and 
had  a  real  soul,  saying  that  His  spirit  is  willing  to  suffer,  but 
His  flesh  weak  in  fearing  the  pain  of  Passion. 

ORIGEN;  There  were,  I  conclude,  two  ways  in  which  this 
cup  of  Passion  might  pass  from  the  Lord.  If  He  should 
drink  it,  it  would  pass  away  from  Him,  and  afterwards  from 
the  whole  race  of  mankind  also  ;  if  He  should  not  drink  it, 
it  would  perhaps  pass  from  Him,  but  from  men  it  would  not 
pass.  He  would  fain  therefore  that  it  should  so  pass  from 
Him  as  that  He  should  not  at  all  taste  its  bitterness,  yet  only 
if  it  were  possible,  saving  the  righteousness  of  God.  If  it 
were  not  possible,  He  was  rather  willing  to  drink  it,  that  so 
it  might  pass  from  Him,  and  from  the  whole  race  of  man 
kind  rather  than  against  His  Father's  will  shun  the  drinking 
thereof.  CHRYS.  That  He  prays  for  this  a  second  and  a 
third  time,  comes  of  the  feelings  belonging  to  human  frailty, 
through  which  also  He  feared  death,  thus  giving  assurance 
that  He  was  truly  made  man.  For  in  Scripture  when  any 
thing  is  repeated  a  second  and  third  time,  that  is  the  greatest 
proof  of  its  truth  and  reality;  as,  for  example,  when  Joseph 

Gen.  savs  to  Pharaoh,  And  for  that  thou  sawedst  it  twice,  it  is 
proof  of  the  thing  being  established  by  God.  JEROME;  Or 
otherwise ;  He  prays  a  second  time  that  if  Nineveh,  or  the 
Gentile  world,  cannot  be  saved  unless  the  gourd,  i.  e.  the 
Jews,  be  withered,  His  Father's  will  may  be  done,  which  is 
not  contrary  to  the  Son's  will,  who  Himself  speaks  by  the 

Ps. 40,  prophet,  I  am  content  to  do  thy  will,  O  God.     HILARY; 


VER.  45,  46.  ST.  MATTHEW.  913 

Otherwise,  He  bare  in  His  own  body  all  the  infirmities  of 
us  His  disciples  who  should  suffer,  and  nailed  to  His  cross 
all  wherein  we  are  distressed  ;  and  therefore  that  cup  cannot 
pass  from  Him,  unless  He  drink  it,  because  we  cannot  suffer, 
except  by  His  passion.  JEROME  ;  Christ  singly  prays  for  all, 
as  He  singly  suffers  for  all.  Their  eyes  were  heavy,  i.  e.  an 
oppression  and  stupefaction  came  on  as  their  denial  drew 
near.  ORIGEN  ;  And  I  suppose  that  the  eyes  of  their  body 
were  not  so  much  affected  as  the  eyes  of  their  mind,  because 
the  Spirit  was  not  yet  given  them.  Wherefore  He  does  not 
rebuke  them,  but  goes  again  and  prays,  teaching  us  that 
we  should  not  faint  but  should  persevere  in  prayer,  until  we 
obtain  what  we  have  begun  to  ask.  JEROME  ;  He  prayed 
the  third  time,  that  in  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses 
every  word  might  be  established.  RABAN.  Or,  The  Lord 
prayed  thrice,  to  teach  us  to  pray  for  pardon  of  sins  past, 
defence  against  present  evil,  and  provision  against  future 
perils,  and  that  we  should  address  every  prayer  to  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  our  spirit,  soul,  and  body 
should  be  kept  in  safety.  AUG.  Nor  is  that  an  absurd  Aug 
interpretation  which  makes  Our  Lord  pray  thrice  because 
of  the  threefold  temptation  of  His  Passion.  To  the  tempta 
tion  of  curiosity  is  opposed  the  fear  of  death ;  for  as  the 
one  is  a  yearning  for  the  knowledge  of  things,  so  the 
other  is  the  fear  of  losing  such  knowledge.  To  the 
desire  of  honour  or  applause  is  opposed  the  dread  of 
disgrace  and  insult.  To  the  desire  of  pleasure  is  opposed 
the  fear  of  pain.  REMIG.  Or,  He  prays  thrice  for  the 
Apostles,  and  for  Peter  in  particular,  who  was  to  deny 
Him  thrice. 

45.  Then    cometh  he  to  his    disciples,  and  saith 
unto  them,  Sleep  on  now,  and  take  your  rest:  behold, 
the  hour  is  at  hand,  and  the  Son  of  man  is  betrayed 
into  the  hands  of  sinners. 

46.  Rise,  let  us  be  going :  behold,  he  is  at  hand 
that  doth  betray  me. 

HILARY  ;    After    His   persevering   prayer,   after  His   de- 
VOL.I  3  N 


914  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

partures  and  several  returns,  He  takes  away  their  fear, 
restores  their  confidence,  and  exhorts  them  to  sleep  on,  and 
take  their  rest.  CHRYS.  Indeed  it  behoved  them  then  to 
watch,  but  He  said  this  to  shew  that  the  prospect  of  coming 
evils  was  more  than  they  would  bear,  that  He  had  no  need 
of  their  aid,  and  that  it  must  needs  be  that  He  should  be 
delivered  up.  HILARY;  Or,  He  bids  them  sleep  on,  and 
take  their  rest,  because  He  now  confidently  awaited  His 
Father's  will  concerning  the  disciples,  concerning  which  He 
had  said,  Thy  will  be  done,  and  in  obedience  to  which  He 
drunk  the  cup  that  was  to  pass  from  Him  to  us,  diverting 
upon  Himself  the  weakness  of  our  body,  the  terrors  of  dismay, 
and  even  the  pains  of  death  itself.  ORIGEN  ;  Or,  the  sleep 
He  now  bids  His  disciples  take  is  of  a  different  sort  from 
that  which  is  related  above  to  have  befallen  them.  Then 
He  found  them  sleeping,  not  taking  repose,  but  because 
their  eyes  were  heavy,  but  now  they  are  not  merely  to  sleep, 
but  to  take  their  rest,  that  this  order  may  be  rightly  ob 
served,  namely,  that  we  first  watch  with  prayer  that  we  enter 
not  into  temptation,  and  afterwards  sleep  and  take  our  rest, 
Ps.  132,  when  having  found  a  place  for  the  Lord,  a  tabernacle  for 
the  God  of  Jacob,  we  may  go  up  into  our  bed,  and  give  sleep 
to  our  eyes.  It  may  be  also  that  the  soul,  unable  to  sustain 
a  continual  energy  by  reason  of  its  union  with  the  flesh, 
may  blamelessly  admit  some  relaxations,  which  may  be  the 
moral  interpretation  of  slumbers,  and  then  again  after  due 
time  be  quickened  to  new  energy.  HILARY;  And  whereas, 
when  He  returned  and  found  them  sleeping,  He  rebukes 
them  the  first  time,  the  second  time  says  nothing,  the  third 
time  bids  them  take  their  rest ;  the  interpretation  of  this  is, 
that  at  the  first  after  His  resurrection,  when  He  finds  them 
dispersed,  distrustful,  and  timorous,  He  rebukes  them ;  the 
second  time,  when  their  eyes  were  heavy  to  look  upon  the 
liberty  of  the  Gospel,  He  visited  them,  sending  them  the 
Spirit,  the  Paraclete;  for,  held  back  by  attachment  to  the 
Law,  they  slumbered  in  respect  of  faith ;  but  the  third  time, 
when  He  shall  come  in  His  glory,  He  shall  restore  them  to 
quietness  and  confidence.  ORIGEN;  When  He  had  roused 
them  from  sleep,  seeing  in  the  Spirit  Judas  drawing  near  to 
betray  Him,  though  the  disciples  could  not  yet  see  him,  He 


VER.  47 50.  ST.  MATTHEW.  915 

says,  Behold,  the  hour  is  at  hand,  and  the  Son  of  matt  is 
betrayed  into  the  hands  of  sinners.  CHRYS.  The  words, 
the  hour  is  at  hand,  point  out  that  all  that  has  been  done 
was  by  Divine  interference;  and  that,  into  the  hands  of 
sinners,  shew  that  this  was  the  work  of  their  wickedness,  not 
that  He  was  guilty  of  any  crime.  ORIGEN;  And  even  now 
Jesus  is  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  sinners,  when  those  who 
seem  to  believe  in  Jesus,  continue  to  sin  while  they  have 
Him  in  their  hands.  Also  whenever  a  righteous  man,  who 
has  Jesus  in  Him,  is  put  into  the  power  of  sinners,  Jesus  is 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  sinners.  JEROME  ;  Having  con 
cluded  His  third  prayer,  and  having  obtained  that  the 
Apostles'  terror  should  be  corrected  by  subsequent  penitence, 
He  goes  forth  undaunted  by  the  prospect  of  His  own  Passion 
to  meet  His  pursuers,  and  offers  Himself  voluntarily  to  be 
sacrificed.  Arise,  let  us  be  going ;  as  much  as  to  say,  Let 
them  not  find  you  trembling,  let  us  go  forth  willingly  to 
death,  that  they  may  see  us  confident  and  rejoicing  in  suf 
fering;  Lo,  he  that  shall  betray  me  draweth  near.  ORIGEN  ; 
He  says  not,  Draws  near  to  thee,  for  indeed  the  traitor  was 
not  near  Him,  but  had  removed  himself  far  off  through  his 
sins.  AUG.  This  speech  as  Matthew  has  it  seems  self-con-  Aug.  de 
tradictory.  For  how  could  He  say,  Sleep  on,  and  take  your-g*™^^^ 
rest,  and  immediately  continue,  Rise,  let  us  be  going.  This 
contradiction  some  have  endeavoured  to  reconcile  by  sup 
posing  the  words,  Sleep  on,  and  take  your  rest,  to  be  an 
ironical  rebuke,  and  not  a  permission ;  it  might  be  rightly 
so  taken  if  need  were.  But  as  Mark  records  it,  when  He 
had  said,  Sleep  on,  and  take  your  rest,  He  added,  it  is  enough, 
and  then  continued,  The  hour  is  come,  behold,  the  Son  of  man  Mark 
is  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  sinners  ;  we  clearly  understand  '  41* 
the  Lord  to  have  been  silent  some  time  after  He  had  said, 
Sleep  on,  to  allow  of  their  doing  so,  and  then  after  some 
interval  to  have  roused  them  with,  Behold,  the  hour  is  at  hand. 
And  as  Mark  fills  up  the  sense  with,  it  is  enough,  that  is, 
ye  have  had  rest  enough. 

47.  And  while  he  yet  spake,  lo,  Judas,  one  of  the 
twelve,  came,  and  with  him  a   great  multitude  with 

3  N  2 


non 


916  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

swords  and  staves,  from  the  Chief  Priests  and  elders 
of  the  people. 

48.  Now  he  that  betrayed  him  gave  them  a  sign, 
saying,  Whomsoever  I  shall  kiss,  that  same  is  he : 
hold  him  fast. 

49.  And  forthwith   he  came  to   Jesus,  and   said, 
Hail,  Master ;  and  kissed  him. 

50.  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Friend,  wherefore 
art  thou  come  ?  Then  came  they,  and  laid  hands  on 
Jesus,  and  took  him. 

Gloss.        GLOSS.  Having  said  above  that  the  Lord  offered  Himself  of 

nnn    r\f*/* 

His  own  accord  to  His  pursuers,  the  Evangelist  proceeds 
to  relate  how  He  was  seized  by  them.  REMIG.  One  of  the 
tivelve,  by  association  of  name,  not  of  desert.  This  shews 
the  monstrous  wickedness  of  the  man  who  from  the  dignity 
of  the  Apostleship  became  the  traitor.  To  shew  that  it  was 
out  of  envy  that  they  seized  Him,  it  is  added,  A  great  multi 
tude  sent  by  the  Chief  Priests  and  elders  of  the  people. 
ORIGEN  ;  Some  may  say  that  a  great  multitude  came,  because 
of  the  great  multitude  of  those  who  already  believed,  who, 
they  feared,  might  rescue  Him  out  of  their  hands ;  but  I 
think  there  is  another  reason  for  this,  and  that  is,  that  they 
who  thought  that  He  cast  out  daemons  through  Beelzebub, 
supposed  that  by  some  magic  He  might  escape  the  hands  of 
those  who  sought  to  hold  Him.  Even  now  do  many  fight 
against  Jesus  with  spiritual  weapons,  to  wit,  with  divers  and 
shifting  dogmas  concerning  God.  It  deserves  enquiry  why, 
when  He  was  known  by  face  to  all  who  dwelt  in  Judaea,  he 
should  have  given  them  a  sign,  as  though  they  were  unac 
quainted  with  His  person.  But  a  tradition  to  this  effect  has 
come  down  to  us,  that  not  only  had  He  two  different  forms, 
one  under  which  He  appeared  to  men,  the  other  into  which 
He  was  transfigured  before  His  disciples  in  the  mount,  but 
also  that  He  appeared  to  each  man  in  such  degree  as  the 
beholder  was  worthy;  in  like  manner  as  we  read  of  the 
manna,  that  it  had  a  flavour  adapted  to  every  variety  of  use, 
and  as  the  word  of  God  shews  not  alike  to  all.  They  re- 


VER.  51 54.  ST.  MATTHEW.  917 

quired  therefore  a  sign  by  reason  of  this  His  transfiguration. 
CHRYS.  Or,  because  whenever  they  had  hitherto  attempted 
to  seize  Him,  He  had  escaped  them  they  knew  not  how  ;  as 
also  He  might  then  have  done  had  He  been  so  minded. 
RABAN.  The  Lord  suffered  the  traitor's  kiss,  not  to  teach  us 
to  dissemble,  but  that  He  might  not  seem  to  shrink  from 
His  betrayal.     ORIGEN  ;  If  it  be  asked  why  Judas  betrayed 
Jesus  with  a   kiss,  according  to  some  it  was  because  He 
desired  to  keep  up  the  reverence  due  to  his  Master,  and  did 
not  dare  to  make  an  open  assault  upon  Him  ;  according  to 
others,  it  was  out  of  fear  that  if  he  came  as  an  avowed  enemy, 
he  might  be  the  cause  of  His  escape,  which  he  believed 
Jesus  had  it  in  His  power  to  effect.     But  I  think  that  all 
betrayers  of  truth  love  to  assume  the  guise  of  truth,  and  to 
use  the  sign  of  a  kiss.     Like  Judas  also,  all  heretics  call 
Jesus   Rabbi,  and   receive   from   Him   mild   answer.     And 
Jesus  said  unto  him,  Friend,  wherefore  art  thou  come  ?    He 
says,  Friend,  upbraiding  his  hypocrisy;  for  in  Scripture  we 
never  find  this  term  of  address  used  to  any  of  the  good,  but 
as  above,  Friend,  how  earnest  thou  in  hither  ?  and,  Friend,  /Matt. 
do  thee  no  wrong.     AUG.  He  says,  Wherefore  art  thou  come?^^' 
as  much  as  to  say,  Thy  kiss  is  a  snare  for  Me ;   I  know  20,  is. 
wherefore  thou  art  come;   thou  feignest  thyself  My  friend, nongocc. 
being  indeed  My  betrayer.     REMIG.    Or,  after  Friend,  for 
what  thou  art   come,  that  do,  is  understood.     Then  came 
they,  and  laid  their  hands  on  Jesus,  and  held  him.     Then, 
that  is,  when  He  suffered  them,  for  ofttimes  they  would  have 
done  it,  but  were  not  able.      PsEUDO-Auo.    Exult,  Christian,  Pseudo- 
you  have  gained   by  this  bargain   of  your  enemies ;   what  ^j  de 
Judas  sold,  and  what  the  Jews  bought,  belongs  to  you.  Symb. 


ad  Ca- 
tech.  6. 


51.  And,  behold,   one  of  them  which  were  with 
Jesus  stretched  out  his  hand,  and  drew  his  sword, 
and  struck  a  servant  of  the  High  Priest's,  and  smote 
off  his  ear. 

52.  Then  said  Jesus  unto  him,  Put  up  again  thy 
swdor  into  his  place  :  for  all  they  that  take  the  sword 
shall  perish  with  the  sword. 


918  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI 

53.  Thinkest  thou  that  I  cannot  now  pray  to  my 
Father,  and  he  shall  presently  give  me  more  than 
twelve  legions  of  angels  ? 

54.  But  how  then  shall  the  Scriptures  be  fulfilled, 
that  thus  it  must  be  ? 


Chry«.  CHRYS.  So  Luke  relates,  the  Lord  had  said  to  His  dis- 
kxxiv  ciples  at  supper,  He  that  hath  a  purse,  let  him  take  it,  and 
Luke22,  likewise  his  scrip  ;  and  he  that  hath  no  sword,  let  him  sell 

o/» 

his  garment  and  buy  one;  and  the  disciples  answered,  Lo, 
here  are  two  swords.     It  was  natural  that  there  should  be 
swords  there   for  the   paschal   lamb  which  they  had  been 
eating.     Hearing  then   that   the  pursuers   were   coming  to 
apprehend  Christ,  when  they  went  out  from  supper  they  took 
these  swords,  as  though  to  fight  in  defence  of  their  Master 
John  18, against   His  pursuers.     JEROME;  In  another  Gospel,  Peter 
is  represented  as  having  done  this,  and  with  his  usual  hastiness ; 
and  that  the    servant's   name    was  Malchus,  and   that  the 
ear  was  the  right  ear.     In  passing  we  may  say,  that  Malchus, 
i.   e.   one   who   should   have  been   king   of  the  Jews,   was 
made   the   slave  of  the  ungodliness   and  the  greediness  of 
the  Priests,  and  lost  his   right  ear  so  that  he  might  hear 
only  the  worthlessness  of  the  letter  in  his  left.     ORIGEN  ; 
For  though  they  seem  even  now  to  hear  the  Law,  yet  is 
it  only  with  the  led  ear  that  they  hear  the  shadow  of  a 
tradition  concerning  the  Law,  and  not  the  truth.     The  people 
of  the  Gentiles  is    signified  by  Peter;    for   by  believing  in 
Christ,  they  become  the  cause  of  cutting  off  the  Jews'  right 
ear.      RABAN.  Or,  Peter  does  not  take   away  the   sense  of 
understanding  from  them  that  hear,  but  opens  to  the  careless 
that  which  by  a  divine  sentence  was  taken  away  from  them  ; 
but  this  same  right  ear  is  restored  to  its  original  function 
in  those  who  out  of  this  nation  believed.     HILARY  ;  Other 
wise  ;  The  ear  of  the  High  Priest's  servant  is  cut  off  by  the 
Apostle,  that   is,  Christ's   disciple  cuts  off  the    disobedient 
hearing  of  a  people  which  were  the  slaves  of  the  Priesthood, 
the  ear  which  had  refused  to  hear  is  cut  off  so  that  it  is  no 
Leo>      longer  capable  of  hearing.     LEO  ;  The  Lord  of  the  zealous 

Serm. 
22. 


VEB.  51 54.  ST.  MATTHEW.  919 

Apostle  will  not  suffer  his  pious  feeling  to  proceed  further, 
Then  saith  Jesus  unto  him,  Put  up  again  thy  sword  into  his 
place.  For  it  was  contrary  to  the  sacrament  of  our  redemp 
tion  that  He,  who  had  come  to  die  for  all,  should  refuse 
to  be  apprehended.  He  gives  therefore  licence  to  their  fury 
against  Him,  lest  by  putting  off  the  triumph  of  His  glorious 
Cross,  the  dominion  of  the  Devil  should  be  made  longer,  and 
the  captivity  of  men  more  enduring.  RABAN.  It  behoved 
also  that  the  Author  of  grace  should  teach  the  faithful 
patience  by  His  own  example,  and  should  rather  train  them 
to  endure  adversity  with  fortitude,  than  incite  them  to  self- 
defence.  CHRYS.  To  move  the  disciple  to  this,  He  adds 
a  threat,  saying,  All  they  that  take  the  sword,  shall  perish 
by  the  sword.  AUG.  That  is,  every  one  who  uses  the  sword.  Aug. 
And  he  uses  the  sword,  who,  without  the  command  or  sanction  p0"^,. 
of  any  superior,  or  legitimate  authority,  arms  himself  against  xxii.  70. 
man's  life.  For  truly  the  Lord  had  given  commandment  to 
His  disciples  to  take  the  sword,  but  not  to  smite  with  the 
sword.  Was  it  then  at  all  unbeseeming  that  Peter  after  this 
sin  should  become  ruler  of  the  Church,  as  Moses  after 
smiting  the  Egyptian  was  made  ruler  and  chief  of  the  Syna 
gogue  ?  For  both  transgressed  the  rule  not  through  hard 
ened  ferocity,  but  through  a  warmth  of  spirit  capable  of 
good ;  both  through  hatred  of  the  injustice  of  others  ;  both 
sinned  through  love,  the  one  for  his  brother,  the  other  for 
his  Lord,  though  a  carnal  love.  HILARY  ;  But  all  who  use 
the  sword  do  not  perish  by  the  sword ;  of  those  who  have 
used  the  sword  either  judicially,  or  in  self-defence  against 
robbers,  fever  or  accident  carries  off  the  greater  part.  Though 
if  according  to  this  every  one  who  uses  the  sword  shall 
perish  by  the  sword,  justly  was  the  sword  now  drawn  against 
those  who  were  using  the  same  for  the  promotion  of  crime. 
JEROME  ;  With  what  sword  then  shall  he  perish,  that  takes 
the  sword  ?  By  that  fiery  sword  which  waves  before  the  gate 
of  paradise,  and  that  sword  of  the  Spirit  which  is  described 
in  the  armour  of  God.  HILARY;  The  Lord  then  bids  him 
return  his  sword  into  its  sheath,  because  He  would  destroy 
them  by  no  weapon  of  man,  but  by  the  sword  of  His  mouth. 
REMIG.  Otherwise;  Every  one  who  uses  the  sword  to  put 
man  to  death  perishes  first  by  the  sword  of  his  own  wicked- 


920  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

ness.  CHRYS.  He  not  only  soothed  His  disciples,  by  this 
declaration  of  punishment  against  His  enemies,  but  con 
vinced  them  that  it  was  voluntarily  that  He  suffered,  Thinkest 
thou  that  I  cannot  pray  to  my  Fattier,  fyc.  Because  He  had 
shewn  many  qualities  of  human  infirmity,  He  would  have 
seemed  to  say  what  was  incredible,  if  He  had  said  that  He 
had  power  to  destroy  them,  therefore  He  says,  Thinkest 
thou  that  I  cannot  noiv  pray  to  my  Father?  JEROME; 
That  is  to  say,  I  need  not  the  aid  of  the  Apostles,  though 
all  the  twelve  should  fight  for  me,  seeing  1  could  have  twelve 
legions  of  the  Angelic  army.  The  complement  of  a  legion 
among  the  ancients  was  six  thousand  men ;  twelve  legions 
then  are  seventy-two  thousand  Angels,  being  as  many  as 
the  divisions  of  the  human  race  and  language '.  ORIGEN  ; 
This  shews  that  the  armies  of  heaven  have  divisions  into 
legions  like  earthly  armies,  in  the  warfare  of  the  Angels 
against  the  legions  of  the  daemons.  This  He  said  not  as 
though  He  needed  the  aid  of  the  Angels,  but  speaking  in 
accordance  with  the  supposition  of  Peter,  who  sought  to  give 
Him  assistance.  Truly  the  Angels  have  more  need  of  the 
help  of  the  Only-begotten  Son  of  God,  than  He  of  theirs. 
REMIG.  We  might  also  understand  by  the  Angels  the  Roman 
armies,  for  with  Titus  and  Vespasian  all  languages  had  risen 
Wisd.  5,  against  Judaea,  and  that  was  fulfilled,  The  whole  world  shall 
fight  for  him  against  those  foolish  men.  CHRYS.  And  He 
quiets  their  fears  not  thus  only,  but  by  reference  to  Scripture, 
How  then  shall  the  Scriptures  be  fulfilled  that  thus  it  must 
be  ?  JEROME  ;  This  speech  shews  a  mind  willing  to  suffer ; 
vainly  would  the  Prophets  have  prophesied  truly,  unless  the 
Lord  asserts  their  truth  by  His  suffering. 


55.  In  that  same  hour  said  Jesus  to  the  multitudes, 
Are  ye  come  out  as  against  a  thief  with  swords  and 
staves  for  to  take  me  ?  I  sat  daily  with  you  in  the 
temple,  and  ye  laid  no  hold  on  me. 

4  Tt  was  generally  supposed  that  in  that  is   the  number  of  the  heads  of 

the  dispersion  at  Babel,  mankind  was  families  enumerated  in  the  genealogy, 

divided  into  seventy-two  nations,  each  in  Gen.  xi.  See  Aug.  de  Civ.  Dei,  xvi. 

speaking  a  different    language.     For  6. 


VER.  55 — 58.  ST.  MATTHEW.  921 

56.  But  all  this  was  done,  that  the  Scriptures  of 
the  prophets  might  be  fulfilled.     Then  all  the  disciples 
forsook  him,  and  fled. 

57.  And  they  that  had  laid  hold  on  Jesus  led  him 
away  to  Caiaphas  the  High  Priest,  where  the  Scribes 
and  the  elders  were  assembled. 

58.  But  Peter  followed  him  afar  off  unto  the  High 
Priest's  palace,  and  went  in,  and  sat  with  the  servants, 
to  see  the  end. 

ORIGEN  ;  Having  commanded  Peter  to  put  up  his  sword, 
which  was  an  instance  of  patience,  and  having  (as  another  Luke 
Evangelist  writes)  healed  the  ear  that  was  cut  off,  which  was22)  51- 
an  instance  of  the  greatest  mercy,  and  of  Divine  power,  it 
now  follows,  In  that  hour  said  Jesus  to  the  multitudes,  (to 
the  end  that  if  they  could  not  remember  His  past  goodness, 
they  might  at  least  confess  His  present,)  Are  ye  come  out  as 
against  a  thief  with  swords  and  staves  for  to  take  me  ? 
REMIG.  As  much  as  to  say,  Robbers  assault  and  study  con 
cealment;  I  have  injured  no  one,  but  have  healed  many,  and 
have  ever  taught  in  your  synagogues.  JEROME  ;  It  is  folly 
then  to  seek  with  swords  and  staves  Him  who  offers  Him 
self  to  your  hands,  and  with  a  traitor  to  hunt  out,  as  though 
lurking  under  cover  of  night,  one  who  is  daily  teaching  in 
the  temple.  CHRYS.  They  did  not  lay  hands  on  Him  in  the 
temple  because  they  feared  the  multitude,  therefore  also  the 
Lord  went  forth  that  He  might  give  them  place  and  oppor 
tunity  to  take  Him.  This  then  teaches  them,  that  if  He  had 
not  suffered  them  of  His  own  free  choice,  they  would  never 
have  had  strength  to  take  Him.  Then  the  Evangelist  assigns 
the  reason  why  the  Lord  was  willing  to  be  taken,  adding, 
All  this  was  done  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  Prophets  might 
be  fulfilled.  JEROME  ;  They  pierced  my  hands  and  my  pg  22 
feet;  and  in  another  place,  He  is  led  as  a  sheep  to  the16- 
slaughter;  and,  By  the  iniquities  of  my  people  was  He  led  to  7,  s.  ' 
death.  REMIG.  For  because  all  the  Prophets  had  foretold 
Christ's  Passion,  he  does  not  cite  any  particular  place,  but 
says  generally  that  the  prophecies  of  all  the  Prophets  were 
being  fulfilled.  CHRYS.  The  disciples  who  had  remained 


922  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

when  the  Lord  was  apprehended,  fled  when  He  spoke  these 
things  to  the  multitudes,  Then  all  the  disciples  forsook  him 
andjled;  for  they  then  understood  that  He  could  not  escape 
but  rather  gave  Himself  up  voluntarily.  REMIG.  In  this 
act  is  shewn  the  Apostles'  frailty ;  in  the  first  ardour  of  their 
faith  they  had  promised  to  die  with  Him,  but  in  their  fear 
they  forgot  their  promise  and  fled.  The  same  we  may  see 
in  those  who  undertake  to  do  great  things  for  the  love  of 
God,  but  fail  to  fulfil  what  they  undertake ;  they  ought  not 
to  despair,  but  to  rise  again  with  the  Apostles,  and  recover 
themselves  by  penitence.  RABAN.  Mystically,  As  Peter, 
who  by  tears  washed  away  the  sin  of  his  denial,  figures  the 
recovery  of  those  who  lapse  in  time  of  martyrdom ;  so  the 
flight  of  the  other  disciples  suggests  the  precaution  of  flight 
Aug.  deto  such  as  feel  themselves  unfit  to  endure  torments,  AUG. 
E°n  Hi  They  that  had  laid  hold  on  Jesus  led  Him  away  to  Caiaphas 
6.  the  High  Priest.  But  He  was  first  taken  to  Annas,  father- 
in-law  to  Caiaphas,  aa  John  relates.  And  He  was  taken 
bound,  there  being  with  that  multitude  a  tribune  and  cohort^ 
Johnis,  as  John  also  records.  JEROME;  But  Josephus  writes",  that 
12'  this  Caiaphas  had  purchased  the  priesthood  of  a  single  year, 
notwithstanding  that  Moses,  at  God's  command,  had  directed 
that  High  Priests  should  succeed  hereditarily,  and  that  in  the 
Priests  likewise  succession  by  birth  should  be  followed  up. 
No  wonder  then  that  an  unrighteous  High  Priest  should 
judge  unrighteously.  RABAN.  And  the  action  suits  his 
name ;  Caiaphas,  i.  e.  '  contriving,'  or,  '  politic,'  to  execute 
his  villainy;  or  '  vomiting  from  his  mouth,'  because  of  his 
audacity  in  uttering  a  lie,  and  bringing  about  the  murder. 
They  took  Jesus  thither,  that  they  might  do  all  advisedly;  as 
it  follows,  Where  the  Scribes  and  the  Elders  were  assembled. 
ORIGEN  ;  Where  Caiaphas  the  High  Priest  is,  there  are 
1  literati  assembled  the  Scribes,  that  is,  the  men  of  the  letter1,  who 
preside  over  the  letter  that  killeth ;  and  Elders,  not  in  truth, 
but  in  the  obsolete  ancientness  of  the  letter.  It  follows, 
Peter  followed  Him  afar  ojf,  He  would  neither  keep  close  to 
Him,  nor  altogether  leave  Him,  but  followed  afar  off. 

u  "  Josephus  (Ant.  xviii.  3  and  4,)  but  we  do  not  find  that  he  purchased 
twice  mentions  this  Caiaphas  as  the  the  High  Priesthood  of  Herod."  Val- 
successor  of  Simon  the  son  of  Camithes,  tarsi. 


VER.  59 — 68.  ST.  MATTHEW.  923 

CHRYS.   Great  was  the  zeal  of  Peter,  who  fled  not  when  He 
saw   the   others  fly,    but  remained,   and   entered   in.     For 
though  John  also  went  in,  yet  he  was  known  to  tte  Chief 
Priest.     He  followed  afar  off,  because  he  was  about  to  deny 
his  Lord.     REMIG.  For  had  he  kept  close  to  his  Lord's  side, 
he  could  never  have  denied  Him.     This  also  shews  that 
Peter  should  follow  his  Lord's  Passion,  that  is,  imitate  it. 
AUG.    And  also  that  the  Church  should  follow,  i.  e.  imitate,  Aug. 
the   Lord's   Passion,   but  with   great   difference.      For  the  E"f £ ' 
Church  suffers  for  itself,  but  Christ  for  the  Church.    JEROME;46- 
He  went  in,  either  out  of  the  attachment  of  a  disciple,  or 
natural  curiosity,  seeking  to  know  what  sentence  the  High 
Priest  would  pass,  whether  death,  or  scourging. 


59.  Now  the  Chief  Priests,  and  elders,  and  all  the 
council,  sought  false  witness  against  Jesus,  to  put  him 
to  death  ; 

60.  But  found  none  :  yea,  though  many  false  wit 
nesses  came,  yet  found  they  none.     At  the  last  came 
two  false  witnesses, 

61.  And   said,    This    fellow    said,    I    am    able    to 
destroy  the  temple  of  God,  and  to  build  it  in  three 
days. 

62.  And  the  High  Priest  arose,  and  said  unto  him, 
Answerest  thou  nothing?  what  is  it  which  these  witness 
against  thee  ? 

63.  But   Jesus    held    his    peace.     And    the    High 
Priest  answered  and  said  unto  him,  I  adjure  thee  by 
the  living  God,  that  thou  tell  us  whether  thou  be  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God. 

64.  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Thou  hast  said :  never 
theless  I  say  unto  you,  Hereafter  shall  ye  see  the  Son 
of  man    sitting   on    the    right  hand  of  power,  and 
coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven. 

65.  Then  the  High  Priest  rent  his  clothes,  saying, 
He  hath  spoken  blasphemy ;  what  further  need  have 


924  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

we  of  witnesses  ?    behold,  now   ye  have  heard   his 
blasphemy. 

66.  What  think  ye  ?  They  answered  and  said,  He 
is  guilty  of  death. 

67.  Then  did  they  spit  in  his  face,  and  buffeted 
him;  and  others  smote  him  with  the  palms  of  their 
hands, 

68.  Saying,  Prophesy  unto  us,  thou  Christ,  Who 
is  he  that  smote  thee  ? 


CHRYS.  When  the  Chief  Priests  were  thus  assembled,  this 
conventicle  of  ruffians  sought  to  give  their  conspiracy  the 
character  of  a  legal  trial.  But  it  was  entirely  a  scene  of 
confusion  and  uproar,  as  what  follows  shews,  Though  many 
false  witnesses  came,  yet  found  they  none.  ORIGEN;  False 
witnesses  have  place  when  there  is  any  good  colour  for  their 
testimony.  But  no  pretext  was  found  which  could  further 
their  falsehoods  against  Jesus;  notwithstanding  there  were 
many  desirous  to  do  a  favour  to  the  Chief  Priests.  This 
then  is  a  great  testimony  in  favour  of  Jesus,  that  He  had 
lived  and  taught  so  irreproachably,  that  though  they  were 
many,  and  crafty,  and  wicked,  they  could  find  no  semblance 
of  fault  in  Him.  JEROME  ;  At  last  came  two  false  witnesses. 
How  are  they  false  witnesses,  when  they  repeat  only  what  we 
read  that  the  Lord  spoke  ?  A  false  witness  is  one  who  takes 
what  is  said  in  a  different  sense  from  that  in  which  it  was 
said.  Now  this  the  Lord  had  spoken  of  the  temple  of  His 
Bod}-,  and  they  cavil  at  His  expressions,  and  by  a  slight 
change  and  addition  produce  a  plausible  charge.  The  Lord's 
John  2,  words  were,  Destroy  this  temple ;  this  they  make  into,  /  can 
destroy  the  Temple  of  God.  He  said,  Destroy,  not  '  I  will 
destroy,'  because  it  is  unlawful  to  lay  hands  on  ourselves. 
Also  they  phrased  it,  And  build  it  again,  making  it  apply  to 
the  temple  of  the  Jews ;  but  the  Lord  had  said,  And  1  will 
raise  it  up  again,  thus  clearly  pointing  out  a  living  and 
breathing  temple.  For  to  build  again,  and  to  raise  again,  are 
two  different  things.  CHRYS.  Why  did  they  not  bring  forward 
now  His  breaking  the  Sabbath  ?  Because  He  had  so  often 


VER.  59 — 68.  ST.  MATTHEW.  925 

confuted  them  on  this  point.  JEROME  ;  Headlong  and  un 
controlled  rage,  unable  to  find  even  a  false  accusation,  moves 
the  High  Priest  from  his  throne,  the  motion  of  his  body 
shewing  the  emotion  of  his  mind.  And  the  High  Priest 
arose,  and  said  unto  him,  Answerest  thou  nothing  to  the 
things  which  these  witness  against  Thee  ?  CHRYS.  He  said 
this  with  a  design  to  draw  from  Him  some  indefensible  answer 
which  might  be  made  a  snare  for  Him.  But  Jesus  held  his 
peace,  for  defence  had  availed  nothing  when  none  would 
listen  to  it.  For  here  was  only  a  mockery  of  justice,  it  was 
in  truth  nothing  more  than  the  anarchy  of  a  den  of  robbers. 
ORIGEN  ;  This  place  teaches  us  to  contemn  the  clamours  of 
slanderers  and  false  witnesses,  and  not  to  consider  those  who 
speak  unbeseeming  things  of  us  worthy  of  an  answer ;  but 
then,  above  all,  when  it  is  greater  to  be  manfully  and  reso 
lutely  silent,  than  to  plead  our  cause  in  vain.  JEROME  ;  For 
as  God,  He  knew  that  whatever  He  said  would  be  twisted 
into  an  accusation  against  Him.  But  at  this  His  silence  before 
false  witnesses  and  ungodly  Priests,  the  High  Priest  was 
exasperated,  and  summons  Him  to  answer,  that  from  anything 
He  says  he  may  raise  a  charge  against  Him.  ORIGEN;  Under 
the  Law,  we  do  indeed  find  many  instances  of  this  adjuration ;  Numb 
but  I  judge  that  a  man  who  would  live  according  to  the  5> *?• 
Gospel  should  not  adjure  another ;  for  if  we  are  not  permitted  22,  16. 
to  swear,  surely  not  to  adjure.  But  he  that  regards  Jesus 
commanding  the  daemons,  and  giving  His  disciples  power 
over  them,  will  say,  that  to  address  the  daemons  by  the  power 
given  by  the  Saviour,  is  not  to  adjure  them.  But  the  High 
Priest  did  sin  in  laying  a  snare  for  Jesus;  imitating  his  father, 
who  twice  asked  the  Saviour,  If  thou  be  Christ  the  Son  o/'Matt.  4. 
God.  Hence  one  might  rightly  say,  that  to  doubt  concerning 
the  Son  of  God,  whether  Christ  be  He,  is  the  work  of  the 
Devil.  It  was  not  fit  that  the  Lord  should  answer  the  High 
Priest's  adjuration  as  though  under  compulsion,  wherefore  He 
neither  denied  nor  confessed  Himself  to  be  the  Son  of  God. 
For  he  was  not  worthy  to  be  the  object  of  Christ's  teaching, 
therefore  He  does  not  instruct  him,  but  taking  up  his  own 
words  retorts  them  upon  him.  This  sitting  of  the  Son  of  Man 
seems  to  me  to  denote  a  certain  regal  security ;  by  the  power  of 
God,  Who  is  the  only  power,  is  He  securely  seated  to  Whom 


926  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

is  given  by  His  Father  all  power  in  heaven  as  in  earth. 
And  there  will  come  a  time  when  the  enemies  shall  see  this 
establishment.  Indeed  this  has  begun  to  be  fulfilled  from 
the  earliest  time  of  the  dispensation ;  for  the  disciples  saw 
Him  rising  from  the  dead,  and  thereby  saw  Him  seated  on 
the  right  hand  of  power.  Or,  In  respect  of  that  eternity  of 
duration  which  is  with  God,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world 
to  the  end  of  it  is  but  one  day ;  it  is  therefore  no  wonder  that 
the  Saviour  here  says,  Shortly,  signifying  that  there  is  but 
short  time  before  the  end  come.  He  prophesies  moreover, 
that  they  should  not  only  see  Him  sitting  at  the  right  hand 
of  power,  but  also  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven.  These 
clouds  are  the  Prophets  and  Apostles,  whom  He  commands 
to  rain  when  it  is  required,  they  are  the  clouds  that  pass  not 
i  Cor.  away,  but  bearing  the  image  of  the  heavenly,  are  worthy  to  be 
Rom.  8  tne  throne  of  God,  as  heirs  of  God,  and  joint-heirs  with 
l7-  Christ.  JEROME  ;  The  same  fury  which  drew  the  High 
Priest  from  his  seat,  impels  him  now  to  rend  his  clothes ;  for 
so  it  was  customary  with  the  Jews  to  do  whenever  they  heard 
any  blasphemy,  or  any  thing  against  God.  CHRYS.  This  He 
did  to  give  weight  to  the  accusation,  and  to  confirm  by  deeds 
what  He  taught  in  words.  JEROME  ;  And  by  this  rending  his 
garments,  he  shews  that  the  Jews  have  lost  the  priestly  glory, 
and  that  their  High  Priest's  throne  was  vacant.  For  by 
rending  his  garment  he  rent  the  veil  of  the  Law  which 
covered  him.  CHRYS.  Then,  after  rending  his  garment,  he 
did  not  give  sentence  of  himself,  but  asked  of  others,  saying, 
What  think  ye  ?  As  was  always  done  in  undeniable  cases  of 
sin,  and  manifest  blasphemy,  and  as  by  force  driving  them  to 
a  certain  opinion,  he  anticipates  the  answer,  What  need  we 
any  further  witnesses?  Behold,  now  ye  have  heard  his 
blasphemy.  What  was  this  blasphemy  ?  For  before  He 
had  interpreted  to  them  as  they  were  gathered  together  that 
Matt,  text,  The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  on  my  right. 
22,  44.  jian(j^  an(j  trigy  had  held  their  peace,  and  had  not  contradicted 
Him.  How  then  do  they  call  what  He  now  says  blasphemy? 
They  answered  and  said,  He  is  guilty  of  death,  the  same 
persons  at  once  accusers,  examiners,  and  sentencers.  ORIGEN  ; 
How  great  their  error!  to  pronounce  the  principle  of  all 
men's  life  to  be  guilty  of  death,  and  not  to  acknowledge  by 


VER.  69  -  75.  ST.  MATTHEW.  927 

the  testimony  of  the  resurrection  of  so  many,  the  Fount  of 
life,  from  Whom  life  flows  to  all  that  rise  again.     CHRYS. 


hunters  who  have  started  their  game,  so  they  exhibit  a  wild  iXXxv. 
and  drunken  exultation.     JEROME  ;   They   spit  in  his  face, 
and  buffeted  him,  to  fulfil  the  prophecy  of  Esaias,  I  gave  myisa.,50, 
cheek  to  the  smiters,  and  turned  not  away  my  face  from   ' 
shame   and  spitting.     GLOSS.  Prophesy  unto  us   is  said  in  Gloss. 
ridicule  of  His  claim  to  be  held  as  a  Prophet  by  the  people.  or  ' 
JEROME  ;  But  it  would  have  been  foolish  to  have  answered 
them   that   smote   Him,  and  to  have  declared   the   smiter, 
seeing  that  in  their  madness  they  seem  to  have  struck  Him 
openly.    CHRYS.  Observe  how  circumstantially  the  Evangelist 
recounts  all  those  particulars  even  which  seem  most  disgrace 
ful,  hiding  or  extenuating  nothing,  but  thinking  it  the  highest 
glory  that  the  Lord  of  the  earth  should  endure  such  things 
for  us.     This  let  us  read  continually,  let  us  imprint  in  our 
minds,  and  in  these  things  let  us  boast.     AUG.   That,  they  Aug. 
did  spit  in  his  face,  signifies  those  who  reject  His  proffered  ^ 
grace.     They   likewise   buffet    Him    who    prefer   their  own 
honour  to  Him  ;  and  they  smite  Him  on  the  face,  who,  blinded 
with  unbelief,  affirm  that  He  is  not  yet  come,  disowning  and 
rejecting  His  person. 


69.  Now  Peter  sat  without  in  the  palace :  and  a 
damsel  came  unto  him,  saying,  Thou  also  wast  with 
Jesus  of  Galilee. 

70.  But  he  denied  before  them  all,  saying,  I  know 
not  what  thou  sayest. 

71.  And  when  he  was   gone    out  into  the  porch, 
another  maid  saw  him,  and  said  unto  them  that  were 
there,  This  fellow  was  also  with  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

72.  And  again  he  denied  with  an  oath,  I  do  not 
know  the  man. 

73.  And  after  a  while  came  unto  him   they  that 
stood  by,  and  said  to  Peter,  Surely  thou  also  art  one 
of  them  ;  for  thy  speech  bewrayeth  thee. 

74.  Then  began  he  to  curse  and  to  swear,  saying, 


928  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI. 

I  know  not  the  man.     And  immediately  the  cock 
crew. 

75.  And  Peter  remembered  the  word  of  Jesus, 
which  said  unto  him,  Before  the  cock  crow,  thou 
shalt  deny  me  thrice.  And  he  went  out,  and  wept 
bitterly. 

Aug.  de      AUG.  Among  the  other  insults  offered  to  our  Lord  was  the 
Ev.iii.6.  threefold  denial  of  Peter,  which  the  several  Evangelists  relate 
in  different  order.     Luke  puts  Peter's  trial  first,  and  the  ill- 
usage  of  the  Lord  after  that ;  Matthew  and  Mark  reverse  the 
order.     JEROME;  Peter  sat  without,  that  he  might  see  the 
event,  and  not  excite  suspicion  by  any  approach  to  Jesus. 
CHRYS.  And  he,  who,  when  he  saw  his  Master  laid  hands  on, 
drew  his  sword  and  cut  off  the  ear,  now  when  he  sees  Him 
enduring  such  insults  becomes  a  denier,  and  cannot  with 
stand  the  taunts  of  a  mean  servant  girl.     A  damsel  came 
unto  him,  saying,  Thou  also  wast   with  Jesus   of  Galilee. 
RABAN.  What  means  this,  that  a  handmaid  is  the  first  to  tax 
him,  when   men    would  be    more    likely  to  recognise  him, 
except  that  this  sex  might  seem  to  sin  somewhat  in  the 
Lord's  death,  that  they  might  be  redeemed  by  His  passion  ? 
He   denied    before    them   all,    because    he   was    afraid    to 
reveal  himself;    that  he  said,  /  know  not,  shews  that  he 
Leo,      was  not  yet  willing  to  die  for  the  Saviour.     LEO  ;  For  this 
Serm.    reason  ^   should   seem   he   was    permitted  to   waver,  that 
the  remedy  of  penitence  might  be  exhibited  in   the  head 
of  the   Church,   and    that    none    should   dare   to   trust  in 
his  own  strength,  when  even  the  blessed  Peter  could  not  escape 
the  danger  of  frailty.     CHRYS.  But  not  once,  but  twice  and 
Aug.     thrice  did  he  deny  within  a  short  time.    AUG.  We  understand 
sup<  that  having  gone  out  after  his  first  denial,  the  cock  crowed 
the  first  time  as  Mark  relates.     CHRYS.  To  shew  that  the 
sound  did  not  keep  him  from  denial,  nor  bring  his  promise 
Aug.     to  mind.     AUG.  The  second  denial  was  not  outside  the  door, 
p'  but  after  he  had  returned  to  the  fire ;  for  the  second  maid 
did  not  see  him  after  he  had  gone  out,  but  as  he  was  going 
out;  his  getting  up  to  go  out  drew  her  attention,  and  she 
said  to  them  that  were  there,  that  is,  to  those  that  Were 


VER.  69 75.  ST.  MATTHEW.  929 

standing  round  the  fire  in  the  hall,  This  fellow  also  was  u-itlt 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  He  who  had  gone  out,  having  heard  this 
returned,  that  he  might  by  denial  vindicate  himself.  Or,  as 
is  more  likely,  he  did  not  hear  what  was  said  of  him  as  he 
went  out,  but  it  was  after  he  came  back  that  the  maid,  and 
the  other  man  whom  Luke  mentions,  said  to  him,  And  thou 
also  art  one  of  them,  JEROME;  And  again  he  denied  with 
an  oath,  I  do  not  know  the  man.  I  know  that  some  out 
of  a  feeling  of  piety  towards  the  Apostle  Peter  have  inter 
preted  this  place  to  signify  that  Peter  denied  the  Man  and 
not  the  God,  as  though  he  meant,  '  I  do  not  know  the  Man, 
because  I  know  the  GodV  But  the  intelligent  reader  will 
see  that  this  is  trifling,  for  if  he  denied  not,  the  Lord  spoke 
falsely  when  He  said,  Thou  shalt  deny  me  thrice.  AMBROSE  ;  Amb.  in 
I  had  rather  that  Peter  deny,  than  that  the  Lord  be  made  57"°" 
out  false.  RABAN.  In  this  denial  of  Peter  we  affirm  that 
Christ  is  denied  not  only  by  him  who  denies  that  He  is 
Christ,  but  who  denies  himself  to  be  a  Christian. 

AUG.  Let  us  now  come  to  the  third  denial;   And  after  Aug. 
a  while  came  they  that  stood  by,  and  said  to  Peter,  Surely^ 
thou  also  art  one  of  them,    (Luke's   words  are,  About  Me  Luke 
space  of  one  hour   after,)  for  thy  speech   bewray  eth  thee.     '     ' 
JEROME;  Not  that  Peter  was  of  a  different  speech  or  nation, 
but  a  Hebrew  as  his  accusers  were ;  but  every  province  and 
every  district  has  its  peculiarities,  and  he  could  not  disguise 
his  native   pronunciation.      REMIG.   Observe   how   baneful 
are  communications  with  evil  men;  they  even  drove  Peter 
to  deny  the  Lord  whom  he  had  before  confessed  to  be  the 
Son  of  God.     RABAN.  Observe,  that  he  said  the  first  time, 
/  know  not  what  thou  sayest ;  the  second  time,  He  denied 
with  an  oath;    the  third   time,  He  began  to  curse  and  to 
swear   that   he   knew   not   the  man.      For  to  persevere  in 
sinning  increases   sinfulness,  and  he   who   disregards   light 
sins,  falls  into  greater. 

REMIG.  Spiritually;    By  Peter's  denial  before  the  cock- 

*  e.  g.  S.  Ambrose  (in  Luc.)  says,  yet  seeing  through  infirmity  of  the  flesh, 
"  He  well  denied  him  as  man,  for  he  he  had  at  least  doubted,  he  therefore 
knew  him  as  God."  And  S.  Hilary,  wept  bitterly  when  he  remembered  that 
(in  loc.)  "  Almost  without  sin  did  he  he  had  not  been  able,  even  after  warn- 
now  deny  the  man,  who  had  been  the  ing,  to  avoid  the  sin  of  that  fearful- 
first  to  acknowledge  him  as  Son  of  God ;  ness." 

VOL.  I.  3  O 


i)30  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  MATTHEW.          CHAP.  XXVI. 

crow,  are  denoted  those  who  before  Christ's  resurrection  did 
not  believe  Him  to  be  God,  being  perplexed  by  His  death. 
In  his  denial  after  the  first  cock-crow,  are  denoted  those  who 
are  in  error  concerning  both  Christ's  natures,  His  human 
and  divine.  By  the  first  handmaid  is  signified  desire  ;  by  the 
second,  carnal  delight;  by  them  that  stood  by,  the  daemons; 
for  by  them  men  are  led  to  a  denial  of  ChTist.  ORIGEN; 
Or,  By  the  first  handmaid  is  understood  the  Synagogue  of 
the  Jews,  which  oft  compelled  the  faithful  to  deny;  by  the 
second,  the  congregations  of  the  Gentiles,  who  even  perse 
cuted  the  Christians;  they  that  stood  in  the  hall  signify 
the  ministers  of  divers  heresies,  who  also  compel  men  to 
Aug.  deny  the  truth  of  Christ.  AUG.  Also  Peter  thrice  denied, 
EvT/5  because  heretical  error  concerning  Christ  is  limited  to  three 
kinds;  they  are  in  error  respecting  His  divinity,  His  hu 
manity,  or  both.  RABAN.  After  the  third  denial  comes  the 
cock-crow;  by  which  we  may  understand  a  Doctor  of  the 
Church  who  with  chiding  rouses  the  slumbering,  saying, 
1  Cor.  Awake,  ye  righteous,  and  sin  not.  Thus  Holy  Scripture  uses 
J5>  *?•  to  denote  the  merit  of  divers  cases  '  by  fixed  periods,  as  Peter 

1  men-  m       m  •  ' 

turn cau- sinned  at  midnight  and  repented  at  cock-crow.  JEROME; 
im'  In  another  Gospel  we  read,  that  after  Peter's  denial  and  the 

Luke  cock-crow,  the  Saviour  looked  upon  Peter,  and  by  His  look 
'  '  called  forth  those  bitter  tears ;  for  it  might  not  be  that  he  on 
whom  the  Light  of  the  world  had  looked  should  continue  in 
the  darkness  of  denial,  wherefore,  he  went  out,  and  wept 
bitterly.  For  he  could  not  do  penitence  sitting  in  Caiaphas' 
hall,  but  went  forth  from  the  assembly  of  the  wicked,  that  he 
might  wash  away  in  bitter  tears  the  pollution  of  his  timid 

Leo,      denial.     LEO;  Blessed  tears,  O  holy  Apostle,  which  had  the 

Serm.  virtue  of  holy  Baptism  in  washing  off  the  sin  of  thy  denial. 
The  right  hand  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  with  thee  to 
hold  thee  up  before  thou  wast  quite  thrown  down,  and  in 
the  midst  of  thy  perilous  fall,  thou  receivedst  strength  to  stand. 
The  Rock  quickly  returned  to  its  stability,  recovering  so  great 
fortitude,  that  he  who  in  Christ's  passion  had  quailed,  should 
endure  his  own  subsequent  suffering  with  fearlessness  and 
constancy. 


CHAP.  XXVII. 

1.  When    the   morning  was  come,  all  the   Chief 
Priests  and  elders  of  the  people  took  counsel  against 
Jesus  to  put  him  to  death : 

2.  And  when  they  had  bound  him,  they  led  him 
away,    and    delivered    him    to    Pontius    Pilate    the 
governor. 

3.  Then  Judas,  which  had  betrayed  him,  when  he 
saw  that  he  was  condemned,  repented  himself,  and 
brought  again  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  to  the  Chief 
Priests  and  elders, 

4.  Saying,  I  have  sinned  in  that  I  have  betrayed 
the  innocent  blood.     And  they  said,  What  is  that  to 
us?  see  thou  to  that. 

5.  And  he  cast  down  the  pieces  of  silver  in  the 
temple,  and  departed,  and  went  and  hanged  himself. 

AUG.  The  Evangelist  had  above  brought  down  his  history,  Aug.  de 
of  what  was  done  to  the  Lord  as   far  as  early  morning ;  E°^'i7 
he  then  turned  back  to  relate  Peter's  denial,  after  which  he 
returned  to  the  morning  to  continue  the  course   of  events, 
When  the  morning  was  come,  fyc.     ORIGEN  ;  They  supposed 
that  by  His  death  they  should  crush  His  doctrine,  and  the 
belief  in  Him  of  those  who  believed  Him  to  be  the  Son  of 
God.     With  such  purpose  against  Him  they  bound  Jesus,  vid.  Isa. 
Who  looses  them  that  are  bound.     JEROME  ;  Observe  the  evil    '    ' 
zeal  of  the  Chief  Priests ;  they  watched  the  whole  night  with 
a  view   to  this  murder.     And  they  gave  Him  up  to  Pilate 
bound,  for  such  was  their  practice  to  send   bound   to   the 
judge  any  whom  they   had   sentenced  to    death.     RABAN. 

3  o  2 


932  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

Though  it  should  be  observed  that   they  did  not  now  first 

bind  Him,  but  before,  when  they  first  laid  hands  upon  Him 

John  is,  in  the  garden,  as  John  relates.     CHRYS.  They  did  not  put 

Ch'rys.    Him  to  death  in  secret,  because  they  sought  to  destroy  His 

Hoin.    reputation,  and  the  wonder  with  which  He  was  regarded  by 
Ixxxiv.  .  .  . 

many,     .tor  this  reason  they  were  mmdea  to  put  Him  to 

death  openly  before  all,  and  therefore  they  led  Him  to  the 
governor.  JEROME  ;  Judas,  when  he  saw  that  the  Lord  was 
condemned  to  death,  returned  the  money  to  the  Priests,  as 
though  it  had  been  in  his  power  to  change  the  minds  of  His 
persecutors.  ORIGEN  ;  Let  the  propounders  of  those  fables 
concerning  intrinsically  evil  natures*  answer  me  here,  whence 
Judas  came  to  the  acknowledgment  of  his  sin,  /  have  sinned 
in  that  I  have  betrayed  righteous  blood,  except  through  the 
good  mind  originally  implanted  in  him,  and  that  seed  of 
virtue  which  is  sown  in  every  rational  soul  ?  But  Judas  did 
not  cherish  this,  and  so  fell  into  this  sin.  But  if  ever  any 
man  was  made  of  a  nature  that  was  to  perish,  Judas  was  yet 
more  of  such  a  nature.  If  indeed  he  had  done  this  after 
Christ's  resurrection,  it  might  have  been  said,  that  the  power 
of  the  resurrection  brought  him  to  repentance.  But  he 
repented  when  he  saw  Christ  delivered  up  to  Pilate,  perhaps 
remembering  the  things  Jesus  had  so  often  spoken  of  His 
John  13  resurrection.  Or,  perhaps  Satan  who  had  entered  into  him 
2^'  continued  with  him  till  Jesus  was  given  up  to  Pilate,  and 
then,  having  accomplished  his  purpose,  departed  from  him ; 
whereupon  he  repented.  But  how  could  Judas  know  that 
He  was  condemned,  for  He  had  not  yet  been  examined  by 
Pilate  ?  One  may  perhaps  say,  that  he  foreboded  the  event 
in  his  own  mind  from  the  very  first,  when  he  saw  Him 
delivered  up.  Another  may  explain  the  words,  when  he  saw 
that  he  was  condemned,  of  Judas  himself,  that  he  then  per 
ceived  his  evil  case,  and  saw  that  he  himself  was  condemned. 
Leo .  LEO  ;  When  he  says,  /  have  sinned,  in  that  I  have  betrayed 
Serm.  innocent  blood,  he  persists  in  his  wicked  treachery,  seeing 
that  amid  the  last  struggles  of  death  he  believed  not  Jesus  to 
be  the  Son  of  God,  but  merely  man  of  our  rank ;  for  had  he 
not  thus  denied  His  omnipotence,  he  would  have  obtained 
His  mercy.  CHRYS.  Observe  that  he  repents  only  when  his 

»  vii  S.  Basil.  Reg.  Brev.  84. 


VER.   1 — 5.  ST.  MATTHEW.  933 

sin  is  finished  and  complete;  for  so  the  Devil  suffers  not 
those  who  are  not  watchful  to  see  the  evil  before  they  bring 
it  to  an  end.  REMIG.  But  they  said,  What  is  that  to  us? 
that  is  to  say,  What  is  it  to  us  that  He  is  righteous  ?  See 
thou  to  it,  i.  e.  to  thy  own  deed  what  will  come  of  it. 
Though  some  would  read  these  in  one1,  What  must  we  think  i  Quid 
of  you,  when  you  confess  that  the  man  whom  yourself  have 
betrayed  is  innocent?  ORIGEN;  But  when  the  Devil  leavesris? 
any  one,  he  watches  his  time  for  return,  and  having  taken  it,  he 
leads  him  into  a  second  sin,  and  then  watches  for  opportunity 
for  a  third  deceit.  So  the  man  who  had  married  his  father's  l  Cor.  5, 
wife  afterwards  repented  him  of  this  sin,  but  again  the  Devil 
resolved  so  to  augment  this  very  sorrow  of  repentance,  that 
his  sorrow  being  made  too  abundant  might  swallow  up  the 
sorrower.  Something  like  this  took  place  in  Judas,  who  after 
his  repentance  did  not  preserve  his  own  heart,  but  received 
that  more  abundant  sorrow  supplied  to  him  by  the  Devil, 
who  sought  to  swallow  him  up,  as  it  follows,  And  he  went 
out,  and  hanged  himself.  But  had  he  desired  and  looked  for 
place  and  time  for  repentance,  he  would  perhaps  have  found 
Him  who  has  said,  /  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  Ezek. 
wicked.  Or,  perhaps,  he  desired  to  die  before  his  Master  on  '  ' 
His  way  to  death,  and  to  meet  Him  with  a  disembodied 
spirit,  that  by  confession  and  deprecation  he  might  obtain 
mercy ;  and  did  not  see  that  it  is  not  fitting  that  a  servant  of 
God  should  dismiss  himself  from  life,  but  should  wait  God's 
sentence.  RABAN.  He  hung  himself,  to  shew  that  he  was 
hateful  to  both  heaven  and  earth.  PsEUDo-Aua.  Since  the  Hil- 
Chief  Priests  were  employed  about  the  murder  of  the  Lordv.etN. 
from  the  morning  to  the  ninth  hour,  how  is  this  proved  that^\esti  ^' 
before  the  crucifixion  Judas  returned  them  the  money  he  had 
received,  and  said  to  them  in  the  temple,  /  have  sinned,  in 
that  I  have  betrayed  innocent  blood  ?  Whereas  it  is  manifest 
that  the  Chief  Priests  and  Elders  were  never  in  the  temple 
before  the  Lord's  crucifixion,  seeing  that  when  He  was 
hanging  on  the  Cross  they  were  there  to  insult  Him.  Nor 
indeed  can  this  be  proved  hence,  because  it  is  related  before 
the  Lord's  Passion,  for  many  things  which  were  manifestly 
done  before,  are  related  after,  that,  and  the  reverse.  It  might 
have  been  done  after  the  ninth  hour,  when  Judas,  seeing  the 


934  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

Saviour  dead  and  the  veil  of  the  temple  rent,  the  earthquake, 
the  bursting  of  the  rocks,  and  the  elements  terrified,  was 
seized  with  fear  and  sorrow  thereupon.  But  after  the  ninth 
hour  the  Chief  Priests  and  Elders  were  occupied,  as  I 
suppose,  in  the  celebration  of  the  Passover;  and  on  the 
Sabbath,  the  Law  would  not  have  allowed  him  to  bring 
money.  Therefore  it  is  to  me  as  yet  unproved  on  what  day 
or  at  what  time  Judas  ended  his  life  by  hanging. 

6.  And  the  Chief  Priests  took   the  silver  pieces, 
and  said,  It  is  not  lawful  for  to  put  them  into  the 
treasury,  because  it  is  the  price  of  blood. 

7.  And  they  took  counsel,  and  bought  with  them 
the  potter's  field,  to  bury  strangers  in. 

8.  Wherefore  that  field  was  called,  The  field  of 
blood,  unto  this  day. 

9.  Then  was  fulfilled  that  which  was   spoken  by 
Jeremy  the  prophet,  saying,  And  they  took  the  thirty 
pieces  of  silver,  the  price  of  him  that  was  valued, 
whom  they  of  the  children  of  Israel  did  value ; 

10.  And  gave  them  for  the  potter's  field,  as  the 
Lord  appointed  me. 

CHRYS.  The  Chief  Priests  knowing  that  they  had  purchased 

a  murder  were  condemned  by  their  own  conscience;  they 

said,  //  is  the  price  of  blood.     JEROME  ;  Truly  straining  out 

the  gnat,  and  swallowing  the  camel ;  for  if  they  would  not 

put  the  money  into  the  treasury,  because  it  was  the  price  of 

blood,  why  did  they  shed  the  blood  at  all  ?     ORIGEN  ;  They 

thought  it  meet  to  spend  upon  the  dead  that  money  which 

was  the  price  of  blood.     But  as  there  are  differences  even  in 

burial  places,  they  used  the  price  of  Jesus'  blood  in  the 

purchase  of  some  potter's  field,  where  foreigners  might  be 

buried,  not  as  they  desired  in  the  sepulchres  of  their  fathers. 

Aug.      AUG.  It  was  brought  about,  I  conceive,  by  God's  providence, 

Serm      ^na*  ^e  Saviour's  price  should  not  minister  means  of  excess 

80-  !•     to  sinners,  but  repose  to  foreigners,  that  thence  Christ  might 

both  redeem  the  living  by  the  shedding  of  His  blood,  and 


VER.  6 10.  ST.  MATTHEW.  935 

harbour  the  dead  by  the  price  of  His  passion.  Therefore 
with  the  price  of  the  Lord's  blood  the  potter's  field  is 
purchased.  We  read  in  Scripture  that  the  salvation  of  the 
whole  human  race  has  been  purchased  by  the  Saviour's 
blood.  This  field  then  is  the  whole  world.  The  potter  who 
is  the  Lord  of  the  soil,  is  He  who  has  formed  of  clay  the 
vessels  of  our  bodies.  This  potter's  field  then  was  purchased 
by  Christ's  blood,  and  to  strangers  who  without  country  or 
home  wander  over  the  whole  world,  repose  is  provided  by 
Christ's  blood.  These  foreigners  are  the  more  devout  Chris 
tians,  who  have  renounced  the  world,  and  have  no  possession 
in  it,  and  so  repose  in  Christ's  blood  ;  for  the  burial  of  Christ 
is  nothing  but  the  repose  of  a  Christian;  for  as  the  Apostle 
says,  We  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death.  We  Rom.  6, 
are  in  this  life  then  as  foreigners.  JEROME  ;  Also  we,  who 
were  strangers  to  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  have  profited 
by  the  perverse  temper  of  the  Jews  to  obtain  salvation  for 
ourselves.  ORIGEN  ;  Or,  the  foreigners  are  they  who  to  the 
end  are  aliens  from  God,  for  the  righteous  are  buried  with 
Christ  in  a  new  tomb  hewn  out  in  the  rock.  But  they  who 
are  aliens  from  God,  even  to  the  end,  are  buried  in  the  field 
of  a  potter,  a  worker  in  clay,  which  being  bought  by  the 
price  of  blood,  is  called  the  field  of  blood.  GLOSS.  To  this  Gloss. 
day  means  to  the  time  when  the  Evangelist  was  then  writing.  non  occ- 
He  then  confirms  the  event  by  the  testimony  of  the  Prophet ; 
Then  was  fulfilled  that  which  was  spoken  by  Jeremy  the 
Prophet^  fyc.  JEROME  ;  This  is  not  found  at  all  in  Hieremias ; 
but  in  Zacharias,  who  is  the  last  but  one  of  the  twelve  Pro-  Zech. 

11       1.1 

phets,  something  like  it  is  told,  and  though  the  sense  is  not 
very  different,  yet  the  arrangement  and  the  words  are  different. 
AUG.  But  if  any  one  thinks  this  lowers  the  historian's  credit,  Aug.  de 
first  let  him  know  that  not  all  the  copies  of  the  Gospels  have  £on?:.  „ 

Ev.  in./. 
the  name  Hieremias,  but  some  simply  by  the  Prophet.     But 

I  do  not  like  this  defence,  because  the  more,  and  the  more 
ancient,  copies  have  Hieremias,  and  there  could  be  no  reason 
for  adding  the  name,  and  thus  making  an  error.  But  its 
erasure  is  well  accounted  for  by  the  hardihood  of  ignorance 
having  heard  the  foregoing  objection  urged.  It  might  be 
then,  that  the  name  Hieremias  occurred  to  the  mind  of 
Matthew  as  he  wrote,  instead  of  the  name  Zacharias,  as  so 


986  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVlf. 

often  happens ;  and  that  he  would  have  straightway  corrected 
it,  when  pointed  out  to  him  by  such  as  read  this  while  he  yet 
lived  in  the  flesh,  had  he  not  thought  that  his  memory,  being 
guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  would  not  thus  have  called  up  to 
him  one  name  instead  of  another,  had  not  the  Lord  determined 
that  it  should  thus  be  written.  And  why  He  should  have  so 
determined,  the  first  reason  is,  that  it  would  convey  the 
wonderful  consent  of  the  Prophets,  who  all  spake  by  one 
Spirit,  which  is  much  greater  than  if  all  the  words  of  all  the 
Prophets  had  been  uttered  through  the  mouth  of  one  man ; 
so  that  we  receive  without  doubt  whatever  the  Holy  Spirit 
spake  through  them,  each  word  belongs  to  all  in  common, 
and  the  whole  is  the  utterance  of  each.  Suppose  it  to 
happen  at  this  day,  that  in  repeating  another's  words  one 
should  mention  not  the  speaker's  name,  but  that  of  some 
other  person,  who  however  was  the  other's  greater  friend, 
and  then  immediately  recollecting  himself  should  correct 
himself,  he  might  yet  add,  Yet  am  I  right,  if  you  only  think 
of  the  close  unanimity  that  exists  between  the  two.  How 
much  more  is  this  to  be  observed  of  the  holy  Prophets  ! 
There  is  a  second  reason  why  the  name  Hieremias  should 
be  suffered  to  remain  in  this  quotation  from  Zacharias,  or 
rather  why  it  should  have  been  suggested  by  the  Holy 
Jer.  32,  Spirit.  It  is  said  in  Hieremias,  that  he  bought  a  field  of 
9'  his  brother's  son,  and  gave  him  silver  for  it,  though  not 
indeed  the  sum  stated  in  Zacharias,  thirty  pieces  of  silver. 
That  the  Evangelist  has  here  adapted  the  thirty  pieces  of 
silver  in  Zacharias  to  this  transaction  in  the  Lord's  history, 
is  plain ;  but  he  may  also  wish  to  convey  that  what  Hiere 
mias  speaks  of  the  field  is  mystically  alluded  to  here,  and 
therefore  he  puts  not  the  name  of  Zacharias  who  spoke  of 
the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  but  of  Hieremias  who  spoke  of 
the  purchase  of  the  field.  So  that  in  reading  the  Gospel 
and  finding  the  name  of  Hieremias,  but  not  finding  there 
the  passage  respecting  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  but  the 
account  of  the  purchase  of  the  field,  the  reader  might  be 
induced  to  compare  the  two  together,  and  so  extract  from 
them  the  sense  of  the  prophecy,  how  far  it  refers  to  what 
was  now  accomplished  in  the  Lord.  For  what  Matthew 
adds  to  the  prophecy,  Whom  they  of  the  children  of  Israel 


VER.  11 — 14.  ST.  MATTHEW.  937 

did  value,  and  gave  them  for  the  potter's  field,  as  the  Lord 
appointed   me,  this,  as   the  Lord  appointed  me,  is  found 
neither  in  Zacharias  nor  Hieremias.     It  must  then  be  taken 
in  the  person  of  the  Evangelist  as  inserted  with  a  mystic 
meaning,  that  he  had  learned  by  revelation  that  the  prophecy 
referred  to  this  matter  of  the  price  for  which  Christ  was 
betrayed.     JEROME;  Far  be  it  then  from  a  follower  of  Christ  Hieron. 
to  suppose  him  guilty  of  falsehood,  whereas  his  business  was  i    |™* 
not  to  pry  into  words  and  syllables,  but  to  lay  down  the  7. 
staple  of  doctrine.     ID.  I  have  lately  read  in  a  Hebrew  book  Hieron. 
given  me  by  a  Hebrew  of  the  Nazarene  sect,  an  apocryphal m  loc' 
Hieremias,  in  which  I  find  the  very  words  here  quoted.    After 
all,  I  am  rather  inclined  to  think  that  the  passage  was  taken 
by  Matthew  out  of  Zacharias,  in  the  usual  manner  of  the 
Apostles  and   Evangelists  when   they  quote  from   the  Old 
Testament,  neglecting  the  words,  and  attending  only  to  the 
sense. 

11.  And  Jesus  stood  before  the  governor:  and  the 
governor  asked  him,  saying,  Art  thou  the   King  of 
the  Jews  ?    And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou  sayest. 

12.  And  when  he  was  accused  of  the  Chief  Priests 
and  elders,  he  answered  nothing. 

13.  Then  said  Pilate  unto  him,  Hearest  thou  not 
how  many  things  they  witness  against  thee  ? 

14.  And  he  answered  him  to  never  a  word;  inso 
much  that  the  governor  marvelled  greatly. 

AUG.  Matthew,  having  finished  his  digression  concemingAug.de 
the   traitor  Judas,    returns    to   the  course   of  his  narrative,  SOD.!:  - 

'  H.v.in.7. 

saying,  Jesus  stood  before  the  governor.  ORIGEN;  Mark 
how  He  that  is  ordained  by  His  Father  to  be  the  Judge  of 
the  whole  creation,  humbled  Himself,  and  was  content  to 
stand  before  the  judge  of  the  land  of  Judasa,  and  to  be 
asked  by  Pilate  either  in  mockery  or  doubt,  Art  thou  the 
Kiny  of  the.  Jews?  CHRYS.  Pilate  asked  Christ  that  which  chrys. 
His  enemies  were  continually  casting  in  His  teeth,  f< 
because  they  knew  that  Pilate  cared  not  for  matters  of  their 


938  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

Law,  they  had  recourse  to  a  public  charge.  OEIGEN  ;  Or, 
Pilate  spoke  this  affirmatively,  as  he  afterwards  wrote  in  the 
inscription,  The  King  of  the  Jews.  By  answering  to  the 
Chief  Priest,  Ttiou  hast  said,  He  indirectly  reproved  his 
doubts,  but  now  He  turns  Pilate's  speech  into  an  affirmative, 
Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Thou  sayest  it.  CHRYS.  He  acknow 
ledges  Himself  to  be  a  King,  but  a  heavenly  one,  as  it  is 
John  is,  more  expressly  said  in  another  Gospel,  My  kingdom  is  not  of 
this  world,  so  that  neither  the  Jews  nor  Pilate  were  excusable 
for  insisting  on  this  accusation.  HILARY  ;  Or,  when  asked 
by  the  High  Priest  whether  He  were  Jesus  the  Christ,  He 
answered,  Thou  hast  said,  because  He  had  ever  maintained 
out  of  the  Law  that  Christ  should  come,  but  to  Pilate  who 
was  ignorant  of  the  Law,  and  asks  if  He  were  the  King  of  the 
Jews,  He  answers,  Thou  sayest,  because  the  salvation  of  the 
Gentiles  is  through  faith  of  that  present  confession.  JEROME  ; 
But  observe,  that  to  Pilate  who  asked  the  question  unwillingly 
He  did  answer  somewhat;  but  to  the  Chief  Priests  and 
Priests  He  refused  to  answer,  judging  them  unworthy  of  a 
word ;  And  when  he  was  accused  by  the  Chief  Priests  and 
Aug.  de  filder Sj  fa  answered  nothing.  AUG.  Luke  explains  what 
Ev.iii.8.were  the  accusations  alleged  against  Him,  And  they  began 
23U*2  to  accuse  him,  saying,  We  found  this  fellow  perverting  the 
nation,  and  forbidding  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar,  saying  that 
he  himself  is  Christ  a  King.  But  it  is  of  no  consequence  to 
the  truth  in  what  order  they  relate  the  history,  or  that  one 
omits  what  another  inserts.  ORIGEN  ;  Neither  then  nor 
now  did  Jesus  make  any  reply  to  their  accusations,  for  the 
word  of  God  was  not  sent  to  them,  as  it  was  formerly  to  the 
Prophets.  Neither  was  Pilate  worthy  of  an  answer,  as  he 
had  no  fixed  or  abiding  opinion  of  Christ,  but  veered  about 
to  contradictory  suppositions.  Hearest  thou  not  how  many 
things  they  u-itness  against  thee?  JEROME;  Thus  though  it 
is  a  Gentile  who  sentences  Jesus,  he  lays  the  cause  of  His 
condemnation  upon  the  Jews.  CHRYS.  He  said  this  out  of 
a  wish  to  release  Him,  if  He  should  justify  Himself  in  His 
answer.  But  the  Jews,  though  they  had  so  many  practical 
proofs  of  His  power,  His  meekness  and  humbleness,  were 
yet  enraged  against  Him,  and  urged  on  by  a  perverted  judg 
ment.  Wherefore  He  answers  nothing,  or  if  He  makes  any 


VER.  15 — 26.  ST.  MATTHEW.  939 

answer  He  says  little,  that  total  silence  might  not  be  construed 
into  obstinacy.  JEROME  ;  Or,  Jesus  would  not  make  any 
answer,  lest  if  He  cleared  Himself  the  governor  should  have 
let  Him  go,  and  the  benefit  of  His  cross  should  have  been 
deferred.  ORIGEN;  The  governor  marvelled  at  His  en 
durance,  as  knowing  that  he  had  power  to  condemn  Him, 
He  yet  continued  in  a  peaceful,  placid,  and  immovable 
prudence  and  gravity.  He  marvelled  greatly,  for  it  seemed 
to  him  a  great  miracle  that  Christ,  produced  before  a  criminal 
tribunal,  stood  thus  fearless  of  death,  which  all  men  think  so 
terrible. 


15.  Now  at  that  feast  the  governor  was  wont  to 
release    unto    the    people    a   prisoner,    whom    they 
would. 

16.  And  they  had  then  a  notable  prisoner,  called 
Barabbas. 

17.  Therefore  when  they  were  gathered  together, 
Pilate  said  unto  them,  Whom  will  ye  that  I  release 
unto  you  ?  Barabbas,  or  Jesus  which  is  called  Christ? 

18.  For  he  knew  that  for  envy  they  had  delivered 
him. 

19.  When  he  was  set  down  on  the  judgment  seat, 
his  wife  sent  unto  him,  saying,  Have  thou  nothing  to 
do  with  that  just  man  :  for  I  have  suffered  many  things 
this  day  in  a  dream  because  of  him. 

20.  But  the  Chief  Priests  and   elders   persuaded 
the  multitude  that  they  should  ask    Barabbas,  and 
destroy  Jesus. 

21.  The  governor  answered  and  said  unto  them, 
Whether  of  the  twain  will  ye  that  I  release  unto  you? 
They  said,  Barabbas. 

22.  Pilate  saith  unto  them,  What  shall  I  do  then 
with  Jesus  which  is  called  Christ  ?  They  all  say  unto 
him,  Let  him  be  crucified. 

23.  And  the  governor  said,  Why,  what  evil  hath 


940  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

he  done  ?  But  they  cried  out  the  more,  saying,  Let 
him  be  crucified. 

24.  When  Pilate  saw  that  he  could  prevail  nothing, 
but  that  rather  a  tumult  was  made,  he  took  water, 
and  washed  his  hands  before  the  multitude,  saying, 
I  am  innocent  of  the  blood  of  this  just  person ;  see 
ye  to  it. 

25.  Then  answered  all  the  people,  and  said,  His 
blood  be  on  us,  and  on  our  children. 

26.  Then  released  he   Barabbas  unto  them  :    and 
when  he  had  scourged  Jesus,  he  delivered  him  to  be 
crucified. 

CHRYS.  Because  Christ  had  answered  nothing  to  the 
accusations  of  the  Jews,  by  which  Pilate  could  acquit  Him 
of  what  was  alleged  against  Him,  he  contrives  other  means 
of  saving  Him.  Now  on  the  feast  day  the  governor  was 
wont  to  release  unto  the  people  a  prisoner  whom  they  would. 
ORIGEN  ;  Thus  do  the  Gentiles  shew  favours  to  those  whom 
they  subject  to  themselves,  until  their  yoke  is  riveted.  Yet 
1  Sam.  did  this  practice  obtain  also  among  the  Jews,  Saul  did  not 
14'  put  Jonathan  to  death,  because  all  the  people  sought  his  life. 
CHRYS.  And  he  sought  to  rescue  Christ  by  means  of  this 
practice,  that  the  Jews  might  not  have  the  shadow  of  an 
excuse  left  them.  A  convicted  murderer  is  put  in  comparison 
with  Christ,  Barabbas,  whom  he  calls  not  merely  a  robber, 
but  a  notable  one,  that  is,  renowned  for  crime.  JEROME  ; 
In  the  Gospel  entitled  *  according  to  the  Hebrews,'  Barabbas 
is  interpreted,  '  The  son  of  their  master,'  who  had  been  con 
demned  for  sedition  and  murder.  Pilate  gives  them  the 
choice  between  Jesus  and  the  robber,  not  doubting  but  that 
Jesus  would  be  the  rather  chosen.  CHRYS.  Whom  will  ye 
that  I  release  unto  you  ?  8fc.  As  much  as  to  say,  If  ye 
will  not  let  Him  go  as  innocent,  at  least,  yield  Him,  as 
convicted,  to  this  holy  day.  For  if  you  would  have  released 
one  of  whose  guilt  there  was  no  doubt,  much  more  should 
you  do  so  in  doubtful  cases.  Observe  how  circumstances 
are  reversed.  It  is  the  populace  who  are  wont  to  petition 


VER.   15 26.  ST.  MATTHEW.  941 

for  the  condemned,  and  the    prince    to   grant,  but  here  it 
is  the  reverse,  the  prince  asks  of  the  people,  and  renders 
them  thereby  more  violent.      GLOSS.    The  Evangelist  adds  Gloss. 
the  reason  why  Pilate  sought  to  deliver  Christ,  For  lie  knew™ 
that    for   envy   they   had   delivered    him.      REMIG.    John 
explains  what  their  envy  was,  when  he   says.  Behold,  the  John 
world  is  gone  after  him;  and,  If  we  let  him  thus  alone,  #^jo'h*9' 
men  will  believe  on  him.     Observe  also  that  in  place  of  what  11,  48. 
Matthew  says,  Jesus,  who  is  called  Christ,  Mark  says,  Will  Mark 
ye  that  I  release  unto  you  the  King  of  the  Jews?     For  the 
kings  of  the  Jews  alone  were  anointed,  and  from  that  anointing 
were  called  Christs.     CHRYS.  Then  is  added  something  else 
which  alone  was  enough  to  deter  all  from  putting  Him  to 
death  ;    When  he  teas  set  on  the  judgment  seat,  his  wife  sent 
unto  him,  saying,  Have  thou  nothing  to  do  with  that  just  man. 
For  joined  with  the  proof  afforded  by  the  events  themselves, 
a  dream  was   no   light   confirmation.     RABAN.  It  is   to  be 
noted,  that  the  bench  (tribunal)  is  the  seat  of  the  judge,  the 
throne    (solium)    of  the   king,  the  chair    (cathedra)    of  the 
master.     In  visions  and  dreams  the  wife  of  a  Gentile  under 
stood  what  the  Jews  when  awake  would  neither  believe  nor 
understand.     JEROME  ;  Observe   also  that  visions   are  often 
vouchsafed  by  God  to  the  Gentiles,  and  that  the  confession 
of  Pilate  and  his  wife  that  the  Lord  was  innocent  is  a  testi 
mony  of  the    Gentile  people.     CHRYS.  But  why  did  Pilate 
himself  not  see  this  vision  ?     Because    his   wife  was   more 
worthy ;  or  because  if  Pilate  had  seen  it,  he  would  not  have 
had  equal  credit,  or  perhaps  would  not  have  told  it ;  where 
fore  it  is  provided  by  God  that  his  wife  should  see  it,  and 
thus  it  be  made  manifest  to  all.     And  she  not  merely  sees  it, 
but  suffers  many  things  because  of  him,  so  that  sympathy 
with    his  wife  would  make  the  husband  more  slack  to  put 
Him  to   death.     And  the  time  agreed  well,  for  it  was  the 
same   night  that  she  saw  it.     ID.  Thus  then  the  judge  is  Chrys 
terrified  through  his  wife,  and  that  he  might  not  consent  in  Hom.iii. 
the  judgment  to  the  accusation  of  the  Jews,  himself  endured  Dom. 
judgment  in  the  affliction  of  his  wife ;  the  judge  is  judged, 
and  tortured  before  he  tortures.     RABAN.  Or  otherwise ;   The 
devil  now  at  last  understanding  that   he   should  lose  his 
trophies  through  Christ,  as  he  had  at  the  first  brought  in 


942  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

death  by  a  woman,  so  by  a  woman  he  would  deliver  Christ 
out  of  the  hands  of  His  enemies,  lest  through  His  death  he 
should  lose  the  sovereignty  of  death.  CHRYS.  But  none  of  the 
foregoing  things  moved  Christ's  enemies,  because  envy  had 
altogether  blinded  them,  and  of  their  own  wickedness  they 
corrupt  the  people,  for  they  persuaded  the  people  that  they 
should  ask  Barabbas,  and  destroy  Jesus.  ORIGEN  ;  Thus  it  is 
plainly  seen  how  the  Jewish  people  is  moved  by  its  elders  and 
the  doctors  of  the  Jewish  system,  and  stirred  up  against  Jesus 
Gloss,  to  destroy  Him.  GLOSS.  Pilate  is  said  to  make  this  answer, 
)cc-  Whether  of  the  twain  will  ye  that  I  release  unto  you  ? 
either  to  the  message  of  his  wife,  or  the  petition  of  the 
people,  with  whom  it  was  a  custom  to  ask  such  release  on 
the  feast-day.  ORIGEN  ;  But  the  populace,  like  wild  beasts 
that  rage  the  open  plains,  would  have  Barabbas  released  to 
them.  For  this  people  had  seditions,  murders,  robberies, 
practised  by  some  of  their  own  nation  in  act,  and  nourished 
by  all  of  them  who  believe  not  in  Jesus,  inwardly  in  their 
mind.  Where  Jesus  is  not,  there  are  strifes  and  fight 
ings  ;  where  He  is,  there  is  peace  and  all  good  things.  All 
those  who  are  like  the  Jews  either  in  doctiine  or  life  desire 
Barabbas  to  be  loosed  to  them ;  for  whoso  does  evil,  Barabbas 
is  loosed  in  his  body,  and  Jesus  bound ;  but  he  that  does 
good  has  Christ  loosed,  and  Barabbas  bound.  Pilate  sought 
to  strike  them  with  sharne  for  so  great  injustice,  What  shall 
I  do  then  with  Jesus  that  is  called  Christ  ?  And  not  that 
only,  but  desiring  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  their  guilt.  But 
neither  do  they  blush  that  Pilate  confessed  Jesus  to  be  the 
Christ,  nor  set  any  bounds  to  their  impiety,  They  all  say 
unto  him,  Let  him  be  crucified.  Thus  they  multiplied  the 
sum  of  their  wickedness,  not  only  asking  the  life  of  a  murderer, 
but  the  death  of  a  righteous  man,  and  that  the  shameful  death 
of  the  cross.  RABAN.  Those  who  were  crucified  being  sus 
pended  on  a  cross,  by  nails  driven  into  the  wood  through 
their  hands  and  feet,  perished  by  a  lingering  death,  and 
lived  long  on  the  cross,  not  that  they  sought  longer  life, 
but  that  death  was  deferred  to  prolong  their  sufferings.  The 
Jews  indeed  contrived  this  as  the  worst  of  deaths,  but  it  had 
been  chosen  by  the  Lord  without  their  privity,  thereafter  to 
place  upon  the  foreheads  of  the  faithful  the  same  cross  as  a 


VER.   15 26.  ST.  MATTHEW.  943 

trophy  of  His  victory  over  the  Devil.  JEROME  ;  Yet  even 
after  this  answer  of  theirs,  Pilate  did  not  at  once  assent,  but 
in  accordance  with  his  wife's  suggestion,  Have  thou  nothing 
to  do  with  that  just  man,  he  answered,  Why,  what  evil  hath 
he  done  ?  This  speech  of  Pilate's  acquits  Jesus.  But  they 
cried  out  the  more,  saying,  Let  him  be  crucified;  that  it 
might  be  fulfilled  which  is  said  in  the  Psalm,  Many  dogs  ps.  22, 
have  compassed  me,  the  congregation  of  the  wicked  hath 
inclosed  me ;  and  also  that  of  Hieremias,  Mine  heritage  is  Jer.  12, 
unto  me  as  a  lion  in  the  forest,  they  have  given  forth  their8' 
voice  against  me.  AUG.  Pilate  many  times  pleaded  with  the  Aug.  de 
Jews,  desiring  that  Jesus  might  be  released,  which  Matthew  E^j.g. 
witnesses  in  very  few  words,  when  he  says,  Pilate  seeing 
that  he  could  prevail  nothing,  but  that  rather  a  tumult  was 
made.  He  would  not  have  spoken  thus,  if  Pilate  had  not 
striven  much,  though  how  many  efforts  he  made  to  release 
Jesus  he  does  not  mention.  REMIG.  It  was  customary  among 
the  ancients,  when  one  would  refuse  to  participate  in  any 
crime,  to  take  water  and  wash  his  hands  before  the  people. 
JEROME  ;  Pilate  took  water  in  accordance  with  that,  /  will  Ps.  26, 
wash  my  hands  in  innocency,  in  a  manner  testifying  and  ' 
saying,  I  indeed  have  sought  to  deliver  this  innocent  man, 
but  since  a  tumult  is  rising,  and  the  charge  of  treason  to 
Caesar  is  urged  against  me,  I  am  innocent  of  the  blood  of 
this  just  man.  The  judge  then  who  is  thus  compelled  to  give 
sentence  against  the  Lord,  does  not  convict  the  accused, 
but  the  accusers,  pronouncing  innocent  Him  who  is  to  be 
crucified.  See  ye  to  it,  as  though  he  had  said,  I  am  the 
law's  minister,  it  is  your  voice  that  has  shed  this  blood. 
Then  answered  all  the  people  and  said,  His  blood  be  on  us  and 
on  our  children.  This  imprecation  rests  at  the  present  day 
upon  the  Jews,  the  Lord's  blood  is  not  removed  from  them. 
CHRYS.  Observe  here  the  infatuation  of  the  Jews ;  their  head 
long  haste,  and  destructive  passions  will  not  let  them  see 
what  they  ought  to  see,  and  they  curse  themselves,  saying, 
His  blood  be  upon  us,  and  even  entail  the  curse  upon  their 
children.  Yet  a  merciful  God  did  not  ratify  this  sentence, 
but  accepted  such  of  them  and  of  their  children  as  repented; 
for  Paul  was  of  them,  and  many  thousands  of  those  who  in 
Jerusalem  believed.  LEO;  The  impiety  of  the  Jews  then£eo> 

*  Serin. 

59.  2. 


944  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

exceeded  the  fault  of  Pilate;  but  he  was  not  guiltless,  seeing 
he   resigned   his   own  jurisdiction,  and  acquiesced  in   the 
injustice  of  others.    JEROME;  It  should  be  known  that  Pilate 
administered  the  Roman  law,  which  enacted  that  every  one 
who  was  crucified  should  first  be  scourged.     Jesus  then  is 
given  up  to  the  soldiers  to  be  beaten,  and  they  tore  with 
whips  that  most  holy  body  and  capacious  bosom  of  God. 
CHRVS.     See  the  Lord  is  made  ready  for  the  scourge,  see 
w  *l  descends  upon  Him !  That  sacred  skin  is  torn  by  the 
Dom.     fury  of  the  rods ;  the  cruel  might  of  repeated  blows  lacerates 
His  shoulders.     Ah  me !  God  is  stretched  out  before  man, 
and  He,  in  whom  not  one  trace  of  sin  can  be  discerned, 
suffers  punishment   as   a  malefactor.      JEROMK  ;  This  was 
done  that  we  might  be  delivered  from  those  stripes  of  which 
Ps.  32,  it  is  said,  Many  stripes  shall  be  to  the  wicked.     Also  in  the 
10'        washing  of  Pilate's  hands  all  the  works  of  the  Gentiles  are 
cleansed,  and  we  are  acquitted  of  all  share  in  the  impiety  of 
the  Jews. 

HILARY;  At  the  desire  of  the  Priests  the  populace  chose 
Barabbas,  which  is  interpreted  '  the  son  of  a  Father,' 
thus  shadowing  forth  the  unbelief  to  come  when  Antichrist 
the  son  of  sin  should  be  preferred  to  Christ.  RABAN. 
Barabbas  also,  who  headed  a  sedition  among  the  people,  is 
released  to  the  Jews,  that  is  the  Devil,  who  to  this  day  reigns 
among  them,  so  that  they  cannot  have  peace. 

27.  Then  the  soldiers  of  the  governor  took  Jesus 
into  the  common  hall,  and  gathered   unto  him  the 
whole  band  of  soldiers. 

28.  And  they  stripped   him,  and  put  on    him   a 
scarlet  robe. 

29.  And  when  they  had  platted  a  crown  of  thorns, 
they  put  it  upon  his  head,  and  a  reed  in  his  right 
hand :    and  they  bowed  the   knee  before  him,  and 
mocked  him,  saying,  Hail,  king  of  the  Jews ! 

30.  And  they  spit  upon  him,  and  took  the  reed, 
and  smote  him  on  the  head. 

Aug.  d«     A.UG.  After  the   Lord's   trial   comes  His  Passion,  which 

COM. 
Ev.  iii. 
9. 


VER.  27 — 30.  ST.  MATTHEW.  945 

Matthew  thus  begins,  Ttten  the  soldiers  of  the  governor  took 
Jesus  into  the  common  /tall,  %c.     JEROME;  He   had  been 
styled  King  of  the  Jews,  and  the  Scribes  and  Priests  had 
brought  this  charge  against  Him,  that  He  claimed  sovereignty 
over  the  Jewish  nation ;  hence  this  mockery  of  the  soldiers, 
taking  away  His  own  garments,  they  put  on  Him  a  scarlet 
cloak  to  represent  that  purple  fringe  which  kings  of  old  used 
to  wear,  for  the  diadem  they  put  on  Him  a  crown  of  thorns, 
and  for   the  regal   sceptre   give    Him  a  reed,  and  perform 
adoration  to  Him  as  to  a  king.     AUG.  Hence  we  understand  Aug. 
what  Mark  means  by  clothed  him  with  purple ;   instead  of  Mark 
the  royal  purple,  this  scarlet  cloak  was  used  in  mockery ;  and  15» 1^- 
there  is  a  shade  of  purple  which  is  very  like  scarlet.     Or  it 
may  be,  that   Mark  spoke  of  the   purple  which  the   cloak 
contained,   though   its  colour  was   scarlet.     CHRYS.   WhatChrys. 
should  we  henceforth  care  if  any  one  insults  us,  after  Christ  jxx™vii. 
has  thus  suffered  ?     The  utmost  that  cruel  outrage  could  do 
was  put  in  practice  against   Christ ;    and  not  one  member 
only,  but  His  whole  body  suffered  injuries ;  His  head  from 
the  crown,  the  reed,  and  the  buffetings ;  His  face  which  was 
spit  upon ;  His  cheeks  which  they  smote  with  the  palms  of 
their  hands ;  His  whole  body  from  the  scourging,  the  strip 
ping  to  put  on  the  cloak,  and  the  mockery  of  homage ;  His 
hands  from  the  reed  which  they  put  into  them  in  mimicry  of 
a  sceptre;  as  though  they  were  afraid  of  omitting  aught  of 
indignity.    AUG.  But  Matthew  seems  to  introduce  this  here  as  Aug. 
recollected  from  above,  not  that  it  was  done  at  the  time  Pilate  ubl  8UP- 
gave  Him  up  for  crucifixion.     For  John  puts  it  before  He  is 
given  up  by  Pilate. 

•JEROME  ;  All  these  things  we  may  understand  mystically. 
For  as  Caiaphas  said  that  it  is  expedient  that  one  man  should  Jobnii, 
die  for  the  people,  not  knowing  what  he  said,  so  these,  ' 
in  all  they  did,  furnished  sacraments  to  us  who  believe, 
though  they  did  them  with  other  intention.  In  the  scarlet 
robe  He  bears  the  bloody  works  of  the  Gentiles ;  by  the 
crown  of  thorns  He  takes  away  the  ancient  curse;  with 
the  reed  He  destroys  poisonous  animals ;  or  He  held  the  reed 
in  His  hand  wherewith  to  write  down  the  sacrilege  of  the 
Jews.  HILARY  ;  Or  otherwise;  The  Lord  having  taken  upon 
Him  all  the  infirmities  of  our  body,  is  then  covered  with  the 
VOL.  i.  3  P 


946  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVI f. 

scarlet  coloured  blood  of  all  the  martyrs,  to  whom  is  due  the 
kingdom  with  Him ;  He  is  crowned  with  thorns,  that  is,  with 
the  sins  of  the  Gentiles  who  once  pierced  Him,  for  there  is  a 
prick  in  thorns  of  which  is  woven  the  crown  of  victory  for 
Christ.  In  the  reed,  He  takes  into  His  hand  and  supports 
the  weakness  and  frailty  of  the  Gentiles ;  and  His  head  is 
smitten  therewith  that  the  weakness  of  the  Gentiles  sus 
tained  by  Christ's  hand  may  rest  on  God  the  Father,  who  is 
His  head.  ORIGEN  ;  Or,  The  reed  was  a  mystery  signifying 
that  before  we  believed  we  trusted  in  that  reed  of  Egypt,  or 
Babylon,  or  of  some  other  kingdom  opposed  to  God,  which  He 
took  that  He  might  triumph  over  it  with  the  wood  of  the  cross. 
With  this  reed  they  smite  the  head  of  Christ,  because  this  king 
dom  ever  beats  against  God  the  Father,  who  is  the  head  of  the 
Saviour.  REMIG.  Or  otherwise,  By  the  scarlet  robe  is  denoted 
the  Lord's  flesh,  which  is  spoken  of  as  red  by  reason  of  shedding 
of  His  blood ;  by  the  crown  of  thorns  His  taking  upon  Him 
Rom.  8,  our  sins,  because  He  appeared  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh. 
RABAN.  They  smite  the  head  of  Christ  with  a  reed,  who  speak 
against  His  divinity,  and  endeavour  to  maintain  their  error  by 
the  authority  of  Holy  Scripture,  which  is  written  by  a  reed. 
They  spit  upon  His  face  who  reject  in  abominable  words  the 
presence  of  His  grace,  and  deny  that  Jesus  is  come  in  the 
flesh.  And  they  mock  Him  with  adoration  who  believe  on 
Aug.  Him,  but  despise  Him  with  perverse  works.  AUG.  That  they 
Quaest.  took  from  off'  the  Lord  in  His  passion  His  own  garment,  and 
in  fin.  put  on  Him  a  coloured  robe,  denotes  those  heretics  who  said 
that  He  had  a  shadowy,  and  not  a  real  body. 

31.  And  after  that  they  had   mocked  him,  they 
took  the  robe  off  from  him,  and  put  his  own  raiment 
on  him,  and  led  him  away  to  crucify  him. 

32.  And  as  they  came  out,  they  found  a  man  of 
Cyrene,  Simon  by  name :  him  they  compelled  to  bear 
his  cross. 

33.  And  when  they  were  come  unto  a  place  called 
Golgotha,  that  is  to  say,  a  place  of  a  skull, 

34.  They  gave  him  vinegar  to  drink  mingled  with  gall : 
and  when  he  had  tasted  thereof,  he  would  not  drink. 


VKR.  31 34.  ST.  MATTHKW.  947 

GLOSS.  After  the  Evangelist  had  narrated  what  concerned  Gloss. 
the  mocking  of  Christ,  he  proceeds  to  His  crucifixion.     AUG.  Aug.de 
This  is  to  be  understood  to  have  been  done  at  the  end  of  all,  £on.?:  n 

Ev.in.9. 

when  He  was  led  off  to  crucifixion  after  Pilate  had  delivered 
Him  up  to  the  Jews.  JEEOME  ;  It  is  to  be  noted,  that  when 
Jesus  is  scourged  and  spit  upon,  He  has  not  on  His  own 
garments,  but  those  which  He  took  for  our  sins ;  but  when 
He  is  crucified,  and  the  show  of  His  mockery  is  completed, 
then  He  takes  again  His  former  garments,  and  His  own 
dress,  and  immediately  the  elements  are  shaken,  and  the 
creature  gives  testimony  to  the  Creator.  ORIGEN  ;  Of  the 
cloak  it  is  mentioned  that  they  took  it  off  Him,  but  of  the 
crown  of  thorns  the  Evangelists  have  not  spoken,  so  that 
there  are  now  no  longer  those  ancient  thorns  of  ours,  since 
Jesus  has  taken  them  from  us  upon  His  revered  head.  CHRYS.  Chrys. 
The  Lord  would  not  suffer  under  a  roof,  or  in  the  Jewish  Cr°u™[ 
Temple,  that  you  should  not  suppose  that  He  was  offered  ?.*  Lat- 
for  that  people  alone  ;  but  without  the  city,  without  the  walls, 
that  you  might  know  that  the  sacrifice  was  common,  that  it  was 
the  offering  of  the  whole  earth,  that  the  purification  was  general. 
JEROME;  Let  none  think  that  John's  narrative  contradicts 
this  place  of  the  Evangelist.  John  says  that  the  Lord  went 
forth  from  the  praetorium  bearing  Elis  cross;  Matthew  tells, 
that  they  found  a  man  of  Cyrene  upon  whom  they  laid  Jesus' 
cross.  We  must  suppose  that  as  Jesus  went  out  of  the 
prsetorium,  He  was  bearing  His  cross,  and  that  afterwards 
they  met  Simon,  whom  they  compelled  to  bear  it.  ORIGEN; 
Or,  as  they  went  out,  they  laid  hold  of  Simon,  but  when  they 
drew  near  to  the  place  in  which  they  would  crucify  Him,  they 
laid  the  cross  upon  Him  that  He  might  bear  it.  Simon  ob 
tained  not  this  office  by  chance,  but  was  brought  to  the  spot  by 
God's  providence,  that  he  might  be  found  worthy  of  mention  in 
the  Scriptures  of  the  Gospel,  and  of  the  ministry  of  the  cross 
of  Christ.  And  it  was  not  only  meet  that  the  Saviour  should 
carry  His  cross,  but  meet  also  that  we  should  take  part  therein, 
filling  a  carriage  so  beneficial  to  us.  Yet  would  it  not  have  so  «.yy«.- 
profited  us  to  take  it  on  us,  as  we  have  profited  by  His  taking e"" 
it  upon  Himself. 

JEROME;  Figuratively,  the  nations  take  up  the  cross,  and  the 
foreigner  by  obedience  bears  the  ignominy   of  the  Saviour. 

3  P2 


948  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

HILARY  ;  For  a  Jew  was  not  worthy  to  bear  Christ's  cross,  but 
it  was  reserved  for  the  faith  of  the  Gentiles  both  to  take  the 
cross,  and  to  suffer  with  Him.  REMIG.  For  this  Simon  was 
not  a  man  of  Jerusalem,  but  a  foreigner,  and  denizen,  being  a 
Cyrenean  ;  Gyrene  is  a  town  of  Lybia.  Simon  is  interpreted 
*  obedient,'  and  a  Cyrenean  '  an  heir;'  whence  he  well  denotes 
the  people  of  the  Gentiles,  which  was  strange  to  the  testa 
ments  of  God,  but  by  believing  became  a  fellow-citizen  of 
Greg,  the  saints,  of  the  household,  and  an  heir  of  God.  GREG.  Or 
E  °™'1  '  otherwise  ;  By  Simon  who  bears  the  burden  of  the  Lord's 
«xii.3.  cross  are  denoted  those  who  are  abstinent  and  proud;  these 
by  their  abstinence  afflict  their  flesh,  but  seek  not  within  the 
fruit  of  abstinence.  Thus  Simon  bears  the  cross,  but  does 
not  die  thereon,  as  these  afflict  the  body,  but  in  desire  of 
vain  -glory  live  to  the  world. 

RABAN.  Golgotha  is  a  Syriac  word,  and  is  interpreted 
Calvary.  JEROME  ;  I  have  heard  Calvary  expounded1"  as  the 
spot  in  which  Adam  was  buried,  as  though  it  had  been  so 
called  from  the  head  of  the  old  man  being  buried  there.  A 
plausible  interpretation,  and  agreeable  to  the  ears  of  the 
people,  yet  not  a  true  one.  Without  the  city  outside  the 
gate  are  the  places  where  criminals  are  executed,  and  these 
have  got  the  name  of  Calvary,  that  is,  of  the  beheaded.  And 
Jesus  was  crucified  there,  that  where  the  plot  of  criminals 
had  been,  there  might  be  set  up  the  flag  of  martyrdom.  But 
Adam  was  buried  near  Ebron  and  Arbee,  as  we  read  in  the 
volume  of  Jesus  the  son  of  Navec.  HILARY;  Such  is  the 
place  of  the  cross,  set  up  in  the  centre  of  the  earth,  that  it 
might  be  equally  free  to  all  nations  to  attain  the  knowledge 
Aug.  de  of  God.  AUG.  And  they  gave  him  to  drink  wine  mingled 
9aM-  Mark  says,  mingled  with  myrrh.  Matthew  put 


gall  to  express  bitterness,  but  wine  mingled  with  myrrh  is 
j5ar23    very  bitter;    though  indeed  it  might  be,  that  gall  together 

b  He  probably  refers  to  an  anony-  is   buried   in    Calvary,  so  that  as   in 

mous  disputant,   of  whom  he   speaks  Adam  all  die,  so  in  Christ  may  all  be 

more  at  length  in  his  Commentary  on  made  alive."     And  to  the  same  effect 

Ephesians  5,  14  ;  but  a  tradition  to  the  Epiphanius     cont.    Tatiau,    and    the 

same  effect  is  mentioned  by  Origen,  Pseudo-Cyprian.  '  De  Resur.  Christi.' 
whose  words,  as  preserved  in  a  MS.        c    Josh.    14,    16.   in    the    Vulgate, 

Catena   quoted   by  Ruaeus,  are,  "  A  '  Adam    maximus    ibi    inter    Enacim 

tradition  has  come  down  to  us,  preserved  situs    est  ;'    departing   from    both  the 

by  the  Hebrews,  that  the  body  of  Adam  Hcb.  and  LXX. 


VER.  35 — 38.  ST.  MATTHEW.  949 

with  myrrh  would  make  the  most  bitter.      JEROME;    The 
bitter  vine  makes  bitter  wine ;  this  they  gave  the  Lord  Jesus 
to   drink,  that  that  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  written, 
They  gave  me  also  gall  for  my  meat.     And  God  addresses  Pa.  69, 
Jerusalem,  /  had  planted  there  a  true  vine,  how  art  thou  je'r  2 
turned  into  the  bitterness  of  a  strange  vine?      AUG.    And^> 
when  he  had   tasted   thereof,  he  would  not  drink.     ThatubiSUp. 
Mark  says,  But  he  received  it  not,  we  understand  to  mean 
that  He  would  not  receive  it  to  drink  thereof.     For  that  He 
tasted  it  Matthew  bears  witness;  so  that  Matthew's,  He  could 
not  drink  thereof,  means  exactly  the  same  as  Mark's,  He 
received  it  not ;  only  Mark  does  not  mention  His  tasting  it. 

That  He  tasted  but  would  not  drink  of  it,  signifies  that  He 
tasted  the  bitterness  of  death  for  us,  but  rose  again  the  third 
day.  HILARY;  Or,  He  therefore  refused  the  wine  mingled 
with  gall,  because  the  bitterness  of  sin  is  not  mingled  with  the 
incorruption  of  eternal  glory. 


35.  And  they  crucified  him,  and  parted  his  gar 
ments,  casting  lots :  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which 
was  spoken  by  the  prophet,  They  parted  my  gar 
ments  among  them,  and  upon  my  vesture  did  they 
cast  lots. 

36.  And  sitting  down  they  watched  him  there  ; 

37.  And  set  up  over  his  head  his  accusation  written, 
THIS  is  JESUS  THE  KING  OF  THE  JEWS. 

38.  Then    were   there   two  thieves   crucified   with 
him,  one  on  the  right  hand,  and  another  on  the  left. 


non  occ* 


GLOSS.  Having  described  how  Christ  was  led  to  the  scene  Gloss. 
of  His  Passion,  the  Evangelist  proceeds  to  the  Passion  itself,  non  o 
describing  the  kind  of  death  ;  And  they  crucified  him.     AUG.  Aug. 
The  Wisdom  of  God  took  upon  Him  man,  to  give  us  an  Q^ 
example  how  we  might  live  rightly.     It  pertains  to  right  life  <l-  26 
not  to  fear  things  that  are  not  to  be  feared.     But  some  men 
who  do  not  fear  death  in  itself,  yet  dread  some  kinds  of  death. 
That  no  sort  of  death  is  to  be  feared  by  the  man  who  lives 
aright,  was  to  be  shewn  by  this  Man's  cross.     For  of  all  the 


!)50  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

modes  of  death  none  was  more  horrible  and  fearful  than  this. 
Aug.  in  AUG.    Let   your   holiness    consider    of  what   might    is    the 
non  dec.  power  of  the  cross.     Adam  set  at  nought  the  commandment, 
taking  the  apple  from  the  tree  ;  but  all  that  Adam  lost,  Christ 
found  upon  the  cross.     The  ark  of  wood  saved  the  human 
race  from  the  deluge  of  waters  ;  when  God's  people  came  out 
of  Egypt,  Moses  divided  the  sea  with  his  rod,  overwhelmed 
Pharaoh,   and  redeemed  God's  people.     The   same  Moses 
changed  the  bitter  water  into  sweet  by  casting  wood  into  it. 
By  the  rod  the  refreshing  stream  was  drawn  out  of  the  rock ; 
that  Amalech  might  be  overcome,  Moses'  outstretched  hands 
were  supported  upon  his  rod;  the  Law  of  God  is  entrusted  to 
the  wooden  ark  of  the  covenant,  that  thus,  by  these  steps  we 
Chrys.   may  come  at  last  to  the  wood  of  the  cross.      CHRYS.    He 
Cruc  et  suffered  on  a  lofty  cross,  and  not  under  a  roof,  to  the  end 
Lat.  ii.  that  the  nature  of  the  air  might  be  purified ;  the  earth  also 
partook  a  like   benefit,  being  cleansed   by  the  blood  that 
Gloss,    dropped  from  His  side.      GLOSS.    The  shape   of  the  cross 
Anselm.  seems  also  to  signify  the  Church  spread  through  the  four 
quarters  of  the  earth.     RABAN.  Or,  according  to  the  practical 
exposition,  the  cross  in  respect  of  its  broad  transverse  piece 
signifies  the  joy  of  him  that  works,  for   sorrow  produces 
straitness ;  for  the  broad  part  of  the  cross  is  in  the  transverse 
beam  to  which  the  hands  are  fastened,  and  by  the  hands  we 
understand  works.     By  the  upper  part  to  which  the  head  is 
fastened   is    denoted  our  looking    for   retribution   from   the 
supreme  righteousness  of  God.     The  perpendicular  part  on 
which  the  body  is  stretched  denotes  endurance,  whence  the 
lon<*a-    patient  are  called  ( long-suffering.'     The  point  that  is  fixed 
mines    jn^o  fae  ground  shadows  forth  the  invisible  part  of  a  sacra 
ment.     HILARY  ;  Thus  on  the  tree  of  life  the  salvation  and 
life  of  all  is  suspended. 

Aug.  de      AUG.  Matthew  shortly  says,   They  parted  his  garments, 

Ev?tii.  casting  lots;   but  John  explains  more  fully  how  it  was  done. 

12-         The  soldiers,  when  they  had  crucified  him,  took  his  garments, 

19,  23.   and  made  four  parts,  to  every  soldier  a  part ;  and  also  his 

coat ;  now  the  coat  was  without  seam.     CHRYS.  It  is  to  be 

noted,  that  this  is  no  small  degradation  of  Christ.     For  they 

did  this  as  to  one  utterly  abject  and  worthless,  yet  for  the 

thieves  they  did  not  the  same.     For  they  share  the  garments 


V7ER.  35 38.  ST.  MATTHEW.  951 

only  in  the  case  of  condemned  persons  so  mean  and  poor 
as  to  possess  nothing  more.  JEROME  ;  This  which  was  now 
done  to  Christ  had  been  prophesied  in  the  Psalm,  They  PS.  22, 
parted  my  garments  among  them,  and  cast  lots  upon  my 
vesture.  It  proceeds,  And  sitting  down,  they  watched  him 
there.  This  watchfulness  of  the  soldiers  and  of  the  Priests 
has  proved  of  use  to  us  in  making  the  power  of  His  resurrec 
tion  greater  and  more  notorious.  And  they  set  up  over  his 
head  his  accusation  written,  This  is  Jesus,  the  King  of  the 
Jews.  I  cannot  sufficiently  wonder  at  the  enormity  of  the 
thing,  that  having  purchased  false  witnesses,  and  having 
stirred  up  the  unhappy  people  to  riot  and  uproar,  they  found 
no  other  plea  for  putting  Him  to  death,  than  that  He  was 
King  of  the  Jews ;  and  this  perhaps  they  set  up  in  mockery. 
REMIG.  It  was  divinely  provided  that  this  title  should  be  set 
up  over  His  head,  that  the  Jews  might  learn  that  not  even  by 
putting  Him  to  death  could  they  avoid  having  Him  for  their 
King;  for  in  the  very  instrument  of  His  death  He  not  only 
did  not  lose,  but  rather  confirmed  His  sovereignty.  ORIGEN; 
The  High  Priest  also  in  obedience  to  the  letter  of  the  Law 
wore  on  his  head  the  writing,  '  Holiness  to  the  Lord,'  but  the 
true  High  Priest  and  King,  Jesus,  bears  on  His  cross  the  title, 
Tliis  is  the  King  of  the  Jews;  when  ascending  to  His  Father, 
instead  of  His  own  name  with  its  proper  letters,  He  has  the 
Father  Himself.  RABAN.  For  because  He  is  at  once  King 
and  Priest,  when  He  would  offer  the  sacrifice  of  His  flesh 
on  the  altar  of  the  cross,  His  title  set  forth  His  regal  dignity. 
And  it  is  set  over  and  not  beneath  the  cross,  because  though 
He  suffered  for  us  on  the  cross  with  the  weakness  of  man, 
the  majesty  of  the  King  was  conspicuous  above  the  cross ; 
and  this  He  did  not  lose,  but  rather  confirmed,  by  the  cross. 

JEROME  ;  As  Christ  was  made  for  us  a  curse  of  the  cross,  Hieron. 
so  for  the  salvation  of  all  He  is  crucified  as  guilty  among  thenonocc' 
guilty.     LEO;   Two  thieves  were  crucified  with  him,  one  on  Leo; 
the   right   hand   and  one   on   the    left,   that  in    the    figure fg™* 
of  His  cross  might  be  represented  that  separation  of  all  man 
kind  which  shall  be  made  in  His  judgment.     The  Passion 
then  of  Christ  contains  a  sacrament  of  our  salvation,  and  of 
that  instrument  which  the  wickedness  of  the  Jews  provided 
for  His  punishment,  the  power  of  the  Redeemer  made  a  step 


952  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII 

to  glory.     HILARY;  Or  otherwise;  Two  thieves  are  set  up 

on  His  right  and  left  hand,  to  signify  that  the  entire  human 

race  is  called  to  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Passion ;   but 

because  there  shall  be  a  division  of  believers  to  the  right,  and 

unbelievers  to  the  left,  one  of  the  two  who  is  set  on  His  right 

Remig.  hand  is  saved  by  the  justification  of  faith.     REMIG.  Or,  by 

Gloss.    tne  two  thieves  are  denoted  all  those  who  strive  after  the 

ord-       continence  of  a  strict  life.     They  who  do  this  with  a  single 

intention  of  pleasing  God,  are   denoted  by  him   who  was 

crucified  on  the  right  hand ;  they  who  do  it  out  of  desire  of 

human  praise  or  any  less  worthy  motive,  are  signified  by  him 

who  was  crucified  on  the  left. 

39.  And  they  that  passed  by  reviled  him,  wagging 
their  heads, 

40.  And  saying,  Thou  that  destroyest  the  temple, 
and  buildest  it  in  three  days,  save  thyself.     If  thou 
be  the  Son  of  God,  come  down  from  the  cross. 

41.  Likewise  also  the  Chief  Priests  mocking  him, 
with  the  Scribes  and  elders,  said, 

42.  He  saved  others;  himself  he  cannot  save.     If 
he  be  the  King  of  Israel,  let  him  now  come  down 
from  the  cross,  and  we  will  believe  him. 

43.  He  trusted  in  God  ;  let  him  deliver  him  now, 
if  he  will  have  him  :    for  he  said,  I  am  the  Son  of 
God. 

44.  The  thieves    also,   which  were  crucified   with 
him,  cast  the  same  in  his  teeth. 

CHRYS.  Having  stripped  and  crucified  Christ,  they  go  yet 
further,  and  seeing  Him  on  the  cross  revile  Him.  JEROME  ; 
They  revile  him  because  they  passed  by  that  way,  and  would 
not  walk  in  the  true  way  of  the  Scriptures.  They  wagged 
their  heads,  because  they  had  just  before  shifted  their  feet, 
and  stood  not  upon  a  rock.  The  foolish  rabble  cast  the  same 
taunt  against  Him  that  the  false  witnesses  had  invented,  A  ha  ! 
thou  that  destroyest  the  temple  of  God  and  rebuildest  it  in 
three  days.  REMIG.  Aha !  is  an  interjection  of  taunt  and 


VEK.  39 — 44.  ST.  MATTHKW.  953 

mockery.     HILARY  ;  What  forgiveness  then  for  them,  when  by 
the  resurrection  of  His  body  they  shall  see  the  temple  of  God 
rebuilt  within  three  days  ?     CHRYS.  And  as  beginning  to  exte 
nuate   His  former  miracles,  they  add,  Save  thyself;  if  thou 
be  the  Son  of  God,  come  down  from  the  cross.      ID.  But  ^T*- 
He,  on  the  contrary,  does  not  come  down  from  the  cross,  de  Cruc. 
because  He  is  the  Son  of  God ;  for  He  therefore  came  that  £ 
He  might  be  crucified  for  us.     JEROMK  ;  Even  the  Scribes 
and   Pharisees   reluctantly   confess   that    He   saved  others. 
Your   own   judgment  then  condemns  you,   for  in    that  He 
saved  others,  He  could  if  He  would  have  saved  Himself. 
PSEUDO-CHRYS.  d  But  attend  to  this  speech  of  these  children 
of  the  Devil,  how  they  imitate  their  father's  speech.     The 
Devil  said,  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast  thyself  down;  andg  att*  ' 
they  say  now,  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  come  down  from 
the  cross.     LEO;  From  what  source  of  error ,*O  Jews,  have  yegee^ 
sucked  in  the  poison  of  such  blasphemies?     What  teacher 55. 2. 
delivered  it  to  you?    What  learning  moved  you  to  think  that 
the  true  King  of  Israel,  that  the  veritable  Son  of  God,  would 
be   He  who  would  not  suffer  Himself  to  be  crucified,  and 
would  set  free  His  body  from  the  fastenings  of  the  nails? 
Not  the  hidden  meaning  of  the  Law,  not  the  mouths  of  the 
Prophets.     Had  ye  indeed  ever  read,  I  hid  not  myfacefrom^-  60> 
the  shame  of  spitting;  or  that  again,  They  pierced  my  hands  Ps.  22, 
and  my  feet,  they  told  all  my  bones.     Where  have  ye  ever     * 
read  that  the  Lord  came  down  from  the  cross  ?    But  ye  have 
read,  The  Lord  hath  reignedfrom  the  tree e.    RABAN.  Had  He 
then  been  prevailed  on  by  their  taunts  to  leave  the  cross,  He 
would  not  have  proved  to  us  the  power  of  endurance ;  but  He 
waited  enduring  their  mockery;  and  He  who  would  not  come 
down  from  the  cross,  rose  again  from  the  tomb.     JEROME  ; 
But  unworthy  of  credit  is  that  promise,  And  we  will  believe 
him.     For  which  is  greater,  to  come  down  while  yet  alive 
from  the  cross,  or  to  rise  from  the  tomb  when  dead  ?  Yet  this 
He  did,  and  ye  believed  not;  therefore  neither  would  ye  have 
believed  if  He  had  come  down  from  the  cross.     It  seems  to 
me  that  this  was  a  suggestion  of  the  daemons.     For  imme- 

d  Horn,  de  Cruce  et  Latr.  in  the  ligno,'  in  the  old  Italic  Version ;  and 

Latin  Chrys.  (ed.  Paris.  1588.)  vol.  Hi.  so  Tertullian  adv.  Marc.  iii.  The 

p.  750.  Vulg.  follows  the  Heb. 

*  Ps.  96,  10. '  Dominus  regnavit  a 


954  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP    XXVII. 

diately  when  the  Lord  was  crucified  they  felt  the  power  of 
the  cross,  and  perceived  that  their  strength  was  broken,  and 
therefore  contrive  this  to  move  Him  to  come  down  from  the 
cross.  But  the  Lord,  aware  of  the  designs  of  His  foes,  remains 
on  the  cross  that  He  may  destroy  the  Devil.  CHRYS.  He 
trusted  in  God,  let  him  now  deliver  him,  if  he  will.  O  most 
foul !  Were  they  therefore  not  Prophets  or  righteous  men, 
because  God  did  not  deliver  them  out  of  their  perils  ?  But  if 
He  would  not  oppose  their  glory,  which  accrued  to  them  out 
of  the  perils  which  you  brought  upon  them,  much  more  in  this 
man  ought  you  not  to  be  offended  because  of  what  He  suffers ; 
what  He  has  ever  said  ought  to  remove  any  such  suspicion. 
When  they  add,  Because  he  said,  I  am  the  Son  of  God,  they 
desire  to  intimate  that  He  suffered  as  an  impostor  and  se 
ducer,  and  as  making  high  and  false  pretences.  And  not  only 
the  Jews  and  the  soldiers  from  below,  but  from  above  likewise. 
The  thieves,  which  were  crucified  it'iih  him,  cast  the  same  in 
Aug.  &e  his  teeth.  AUG.  It  may  seem  that  Luke  contradicts  this, 
Ev.iii.  when  he  describes  one  of  the  robbers  as  reviling  Him,  and  as 
16<  therefore  rebuked  by  the  other.  But  we  may  suppose  that 
Matthew,  shortly  alluding  to  the  circumstance,  has  used  the 
plural  for  the  singular,  as  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  we 
Heb.  11,  have,  Have  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions,  when  Daniel  only  is 
spoken  of.  And  what  more  common  way  of  speaking  than 
for  one  to  say,  See  the  country  people  insult  me,  when  it  is 
one  only  who  has  done  so.  If  indeed  Matthew  had  said  that 
both  the  thieves  had  reviled  the  Lord,  there  would  be  some 
discrepancy;  but  when  he  says  merely,  The  thieves,  without 
adding  '  both,'  we  must  consider  it  as  that  common  form  of 
speech  in  which  the  singular  is  signified  by  the  plural. 
JEROME  ;  Or  it  may  be  said  that  at  first  both  reviled  Him ; 
but  when  the  sun  had  withdrawn,  the  earth  was  shaken,  the 
rocks  were  rent,  and  the  darkness  increased,  one  believed  on 
Jesus,  and  repaired  his  former  denial  by  a  subsequent 
confession.  CHRYS.  At  first  both  reviled  Him,  but  afterwards 
not  so.  For  that  you  should  not  suppose  that  the  thing  was 
arranged  by  any  collusion,  and  that  the  thief  was  not  a  thief, 
he  shews  you  by  his  wanton  reproaches,  that  even  after  he 
was  crucified  he  was  a  thief  and  a  foe,  but  was  afterwards 
totally  changed. 


VKR.  45 50.  ST.  MATTHEW.  955 

HILARY;  That  both  the  thieves  cast  in  His  teeth  the  manner 
of  His  Passion,  shews  that  the  cross  should  be  an  offence  to 
all  mankind,  even  to  the  faithful.  JEROME;  Or,  in  the  two 
thieves  both  nations,  Jews  and  Gentiles,  at  first  blasphemed 
the  Lord ;  afterwards  the  latter  terrified  by  the  multitude  of 
signs  did  penitence,  and  thus  rebukes  the  Jews,  who  blas 
pheme  to  this  day.  ORIGEN;  The  thief  who  was  saved  may 
be  a  sign  of  those  who  after  many  sins  have  believed  on 
Christ. 

45.  Now  from  the  sixth  hour  there  was  darkness 
over  all  the  land  unto  the  ninth  hour. 

46.  And  about  the  ninth  hour  Jesus  cried  with  a 
loud  voice,  saying,  Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabachthani?  that  is 
to  say,  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou forsaken  me? 

47.  Some  of  them  that  stood   there,  when    they 
heard  that,  said,  This  man  calleth  for  Elias. 

48.  And  straightway  one  of  them  ran,  and  took  a 
spunge,  and  filled  it  with  vinegar,  and  put  it  on  a 
reed,  and  gave  him  to  drink. 

49.  The  rest  said,  Let  be,  let  us  see  whether  Elias 
will  come  to  save  him. 

50.  Jesus,  when  he  had  cried  again  with  a  loud 
voice,  yielded  up  the  ghost. 

PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Creation  could  not  bear  the  outrage  offered  Pseudo- 
to  the  Creator;  whence  the  sun  withdrew  his  beams,  that  hejnjjom. 
might  not  look  upon  the  crime  of  these  impious  men.    ORIGEN  ;  deCmce 
Some  take  occasion  from  this  text  to  cavil  against  the  truth  ubi  sup. 
of  the  Gospel.     For  indeed  from  the  beginning  eclipses  of 
the  sun  have  happened  in  their  proper  seasons;  but  such  an 
eclipse  as  would  be  brought  about  by  the  ordinary  course  of 
the  seasons  could  only  be  at  such  time  as  the  sun  and  moon 
come  together,  when  the  moon  passing  beneath  intercepts 
the    sun's   rays.     But    at  the  time   of  Christ's  passion  it  is 
clear  that  this  was  not  the  case,  because  it  was  the  pas 
chal  feast,  which  it  was  customary  to  celebrate  when  the 
moon  was  full.     Some  believers,  desiring  to  produce  some 


956  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXYII. 

answer  to  this  objection,  have  said,  that  this  eclipse  in  accord 
ance   with   the  other  prodigies   was   an   exception  to   the 
Dionys.  established  laws  of  nature.     DIONYS.  When  we  were  together 
ad  Poly-  at  Heliopolis,  we  both  observed  such  an  interference  of  the 
Ep.  7.    moon  with  the  sun  quite  unexpectedly,  for  it  was  not  the  sea 
son  of  their  conjunction;  and  then  from  the  ninth  hour  until 
evening,  beyond  the  power  of  nature,  continuing  in  a  direct 
line  between  us  and  the  sun.     And  this  obscuration  we  saw 
begin  from  the  east,  and  so  pass  to  the  extreme  of  the  sun's 
orb,  and  again  return  back  the  same  way,  being  thus  the 
Chrys.  verv  reverse  of  an  ordinary  eclipse.     CHRYS.    This  darkness 
Horn,    lasted  three  hours,  whereas  an  eclipse  is  transient,  and  not 
enduring,    as    they    know    who    have   studied    the   matter. 
ORIGEN;    Against  this    the   children    of  this    world    urge, 
How  is  it  that   of  the  Greeks  and  Barbarians,  who   have 
made  observations  of  these  things,  not  one  has  recorded  so 
remarkable  a  phenomenon  as  this  ?     Phlegon  indeed  has  re 
corded  such  an  event  as  happening  in  the  time  of  Tiberius 
Caesar,  but  he  has  not  mentioned  that  it   was  at  the  full 
moon.     I  think  therefore  that,  like  the  other  miracles  which 
took  place  at  the  Passion,  the  rending  of  the  veil,  and  the 
earthquake,  this  also  was  confined  to  Jerusalem.     Or,  if  any 
one  chooses,  it  may  be  extended  to  the  whole  of  Judaea ;  as 
i  Kings  in  the  book  of  Kings,  Abdias  said  to  Elias,  As  the  Lord  thy 
is,  10.   QO(I  livgth^  there  is  no  nation  or  kingdom  whither  my  lord 
hath  not  sent  to  seek  thee,  meaning  that  he  had  been  sought 
in  the  countries  round  about  Judaea.     Accordingly  we  might 
suppose   many   and    dense    clouds   to  have  been  brought 
together  over  Jerusalem  and  Judaea,  enough  to  produce  thick 
darkness  from  the  sixth  to  the  ninth  hour.     For  we  under 
stand  that  there  were  two  creatures  created  on  the  sixth  day, 
the  beasts  before  the  sixth  hour,  man  on  the  sixth  ;  and  there 
fore  it  was  fitting  that  He  who  died  for  the  salvation  of  man 
should  be  crucified  at  the  sixth  hour,  and  for  this  cause  that 
darkness  should  be  over  the  whole  earth  from  the  sixth  to  the 
ninth  hour.     And  as  by  Moses  stretching  out  his  hands  to 
wards  heaven  darkness  was  brought  upon  the  Egyptians  who 
held  the  servants  of  God  in  bondage,  so  likewise  when  at  the 
sixth  hour  Christ  stretched  out  his  hands  on  the  cross  to 
heaven,  darkness  came  over  all  the  people  who  had  cried  out, 


VER.  45 — 50.  ST.  MATTHEW.  957 

Crucify  him,  and  they  were  deprived  of  all  light  as  a  sign  of  the 
darkness  that  should  come,  and  that  should  envelop  the  whole 
people  of  the  Jews.  Further,  under  Moses  there  was  dark 
ness  over  the  land  of  Egypt  three  days,  but  all  the  children 
of  Israel  had  light;  so  under  Christ  there  was  darkness  over 
all  Judaea  for  three  hours,  because  for  their  sins  they  were 
deprived  of  the  light  of  God  the  Father,  the  splendour  of 
Christ,  and  the  illumination  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  over 
the  rest  of  the  earth  there  is  light,  which  every  where  illu 
mines  the  Church  of  God  in  Christ.  And  if  to  the  ninth 
hour  there  was  darkness  over  Judaea,  it  is  manifest  that  light 
returned  to  them  again  after  that;  so,  when  the  fulness 
the  Gentiles  shall  have  entered  in,  then  all  Israel  shall  5en>25< 
saved.  CHRYS.  Or  otherwise;  The  wonder  was  in  this,  that 
the  darkness  was  over  the  whole  earth,  which  had  never  come 
to  pass  before,  save  only  in  Egypt  what  time  the  Passover 
was  celebrated;  for  the  things  done  then  were  a  type  of  these. 
And  consider  the  time  when  this  is  done;  at  mid-day,  while 
over  the  whole  world  it  was  day,  that  all  the  dwellers  on  the 
earth  might  perceive  it.  This  is  the  sign  He  promised  to 
them  that  asked  Him,  An  evil  and  adulterous  generation  Matt. 
seeketh  a  sign,  and  there  shall  no  sign  be  given  it  save  the  12»  39< 
sign  of  Jonas  the  Prophet,  alluding  to  His  cross  and  resur 
rection.  And  it  was  a  much  greater  marvel  that  this  should 
come  to  pass  when  He  was  fastened  to  the  cross,  than  when 
He  was  walking  at  large  on  the  earth.  Surely  here  was 
enough  to  convert  them,  not  by  the  greatness  of  the  miracle 
alone,  but  because  it  was  done  not  till  after  all  these  instances  of 
their  frenzy,  when  their  passion  was  past,  when  they  had 
uttered  all  that  they  would,  and  were  satiated  with  taunts  and 
gibes.  But  how  did  they  not  all  marvel  and  conclude  Him 
to  be  God  ?  Because  the  human  race  was  at  that  time  plunged 
in  exceeding  sluggishness  and  vice,  and  this  wonder  was 
but  one,  and  quickly  past  away,  and  none  cared  to  search  out 
its  cause,  or  perhaps  they  attributed  it  to  eclipse,  or  some  other 
physical  consequence.  And  on  this  account  He  shortly  after 
wards  lifts  up  His  voice  to  shew  that  He  yet  lives,  and 
Himself  wrought  this  miracle ;  And  about  the  ninth  hour 
Jesus  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  fyc.  JEROME  ;  He  employed 
the  beginning  of  the  twenty-first  Psalm.  That  clause  in  the  Ps.  22, 

1.  Vulg. 


958  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

middle  of  the  verse,  Look  upon  me,  is  superfluous  ;  for  the 
Hebrew  has  only  'Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabachthani,'  that  is,  My  God, 
my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  It  is  impiety  therefore 
to  think  that  this  Psalm  was  spoken  in  the  character  of  David 
or  Esther  or  Mardocheus,  when  passages  taken  out  of  it  by 
the  Evangelist  are  understood  of  the  Saviour  ;  as,  Tttey  parted 
my  garments  among  them,  and,  They  pierced  my  hands. 
CHUYS.  He  "uttered  this  word  of  prophecy,  that  He  might 
bear  witness  to  the  very  last  hour  to  the  Old  Testament,  and 
that  they  might  see  that  He  honours  the  Father,  and  is  not 
against  God.  And  therefore  too,  He  used  the  Hebrew 
tongue,  that  what  He  said  might  be  intelligible  to  them. 
ORIGEN  ;  But  it  must  be  asked,  What  means  this,  that  Christ 
is  forsaken  of  God  ?  Some,  unable  to  explain  how  Christ 
could  be  forsaken  of  God,  say  that  this  was  spoken  out  of 
humility.  But  you  will  be  able  clearly  to  comprehend  His 
meaning  if  you  make  a  comparison  of  the  glory  which  He 
had  with  the  Father  with  the  shame  which  He  despised  when 
Hil.  de  He  endured  the  cross.  HILARY  ;  From  these  words  heretical 
so'&c"  spiri*8  contend  either  that  God  the  Word  was  entirely  absorbed 


into  the  soul  at  the  time  it  discharged  the  function  of  a  soul 
in  quickening  the  body  ;  or  that  Christ  could  not  have  been 
born  man,  because  the  Divine  Word  dwelt  in  Him  after 
the  manner  of  a  prophetical  spirit.  As  though  Jesus  Christ 
was  a  man  of  ordinary  soul  and  body,  having  His  beginning 
then  when  He  began  to  be  man,  and  thus  now  deserted  upon 
the  withdrawal  of  the  protection  of  God's  word  cries  out, 
My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  Or  at  least 
that  the  nature  of  the  Word  being  transmuted  into  soul, 
Christ,  who  had  depended  in  all  things  upon  His  Father's 
support,  now  deserted  and  left  to  death,  mourns  over  this 
desertion,  and  pleads  with  Him  departing.  But  amidst  these 
impious  and  feeble  opinions,  the  faith  of  the  Church  imbued 
with  Apostolic  teaching  does  not  sever  Christ  that  He  should 
be  considered  as  Son  of  God  and  not  as  Son  of  Man.  The 
complaint  of  His  being  deserted  is  the  weakness  of  the  dying 
man  ;  the  promise  of  Paradise  is  the  kingdom  of  the  living 
God.  You  have  Him  complaining  that  He  is  left  to  death, 
and  thus  He  is  Man  ;  you  have  Him  as  He  is  dying  declaring 
that  He  reigns  in  Paradise  ;  and  thus  He  is  God.  Wonder 


VER.  45 — 50.  ST.  MATTHEW.  959 

not  then  at  the  humility  of  these  words,  when  you  know  the 
form  of  a  servant,  and  see  the  offence  of  the  cross.  GLOSS.  Gloss. 
God  is  said  to  have  forsaken  Him  in  death  because  He  ex 
posed  Him  to  the  power  of  His  persecutors ;  He  withdrew 
His  protection,  but  did  not  break  the  union.  ORIGEN  ; 
When  He  saw  darkness  over  the  whole  land  of  Judaea  He 
said  this,  Father,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  meaning, 
Why  hast  thou  given  Me  over  exhausted  to  such  sufferings  ? 
that  the  people  who  were  honoured  by  Thee  may  receive 
the  things  that  they  have  dared  against  Me,  and  should  be 
deprived  of  the  light  of  Thy  countenance.  Also,  Thou  hast 
forsaken  Me  for  the  salvation  of  the  Gentiles.  But  what 
good  have  they  of  the  Gentiles  who  have  believed  done,  that 
I  should  deliver  them  from  the  evil  one  by  shedding  My 
precious  blood  on  the  ground  for  them  ?  Or  will  they,  for 
whom  I  suffer  these  things,  ever  do  aught  worthy  of  them  ? 
Or  foreseeing  the  sins  of  those  for  whom  He  suffered,  He  said, 
Why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  that  I  should  become  as  one  that  Mic.  9, 
gathereth  stubble  in  the  harvest,  and  gleanings  in  the  vintage. 
But  you  must  not  imagine  that  the  Saviour  said  this  after 
the  manner  of  men  by  reason  of  the  misery  which  encom 
passed  Him  on  the  cross ;  for  if  you  take  it  so  you  will  not 
hear  His  loud  voice  and  mighty  words  which  point  to  some 
thing  great  hidden.  RABAN.  Or,  The  Saviour  said  this  as 
bearing  about  with  Him  our  feelings,  who  when  placed  in 
dangers  think  ourselves  forsaken  by  God.  Human  nature  was 
forsaken  by  God  because  of  its  sins,  and  the  Son  of  God 
becoming  our  Advocate  laments  the  misery  of  those  whose 
guilt  He  took  upon  Him f ;  therein  shewing  how  they  who  sin 
ought  to  mourn,  when  He  who  never  sinned  did  thus  mourn. 
JEROME;  It  follows,  Some  of  them  that  stood  by,  fyc.;  some, 
not  all ;  whom  I  suppose  to  have  been  Roman  soldiers, 
ignorant  of  Hebrew,  but  from  the  words  Eli,  Eli,  thought  that 
He  called  upon  Elias.  But  if  we  prefer  to  suppose  them 
Jews,  they  do  it  after  their  usual  manner,  that  they  may  accuse 
the  Lord  of  weakness  in  thus  invoking  Elias.  PSEUDO-CHRYS.  Pseudo- 
Thus  the  Source  of  living  water  is  made  to  drink  vinegar,  Chrys. 

f  "  These  words  He  uttered  as  re-  the  overlooked;   whence  He  said  thisln  -,  a.®?' 

presenting  the  person  of  men.     For  He  as    representing    us."     Damasc.   Fid.      *'„ m* 

was   never    forsaken    by   His    Divine  Orth.  iii.  24.  and  so  Theophylact. 
nature  ;  but  we  were  the  forsaken,  and 


960  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

the  Giver  of  honey  is  fed  with  gall ;  Forgiveness  is  scourged, 
Acquittance  is  condemned,  Majesty  is  mocked,  Virtue 
ridiculed,  the  Bestower  of  showers  is  repaid  with  spitting. 
HILARY  ;  Vinegar  is  wine,  which  has  turned  sour  either  from 
neglect,  or  the  fault  of  the  vessel.  Wine  is  the  honour  of 
immortality,  or  virtue.  When  this  then  had  been  turned 
sour  in  Adam,  He  took  and  drunk  it  at  the  hands  of  the 
Gentiles.  It  is  offered  to  Him  on  a  reed  and  a  spunge ; 
that  is,  He  took  from  the  bodies  of  the  Gentiles  immortality 
spoiled  and  corrupted,  and  transfused  in  Himself  into  a  mix 
ture  of  immortality  that  in  us  which  was  spoiled.  REMIG. 
Or  otherwise;  The  Jews  as  degenerating  from  the  wine  of 
the  Patriarchs  and  Prophets  were  vinegar ;  they  had  deceitful 
hearts,  like  to  the  winding  holes  and  hollows  in  spunge. 
By  the  reed,  Sacred  Scripture  is  denoted,  which  was  fulfilled 
in  this  action ;  for  as  we  call  that  which  the  tongue  utters, 
the  Hebrew  tongue,  or  the  Greek  tongue,  for  example  ;  so 
the  writing,  or  letters  which  the  seed  produces,  we  may  call 
a  reed.  ORIGEN  ;  And  perhaps  all  who  know  the  ecclesias 
tical  doctrine,  but  live  amiss,  have  given  them  to  drink  wine 
mingled  with  gall ;  but  they  who  attribute  to  Christ  untrue 
opinions,  these  filling  a  sponge  with  vinegar,  put  it  upon 
the  reed  of  Scripture,  and  put  it  to  His  mouth.  RABAN. 
The  soldiers  misunderstanding  the  sound  of  the  Lord's  words, 
foolishly  looked  for  the  coming  of  Elias.  But  God,  whom 
the  Saviour  thus  invoked  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  He  had 
Aug.  in  ever  inseparably  with  Him.  AUG.  When  now  nought  of 
Sera.  suflfering  remains  to  be  endured,  death  still  lingers,  knowing 
that  it  has  nothing  there.  The  ancient  foe  suspected  some 
what  unusual.  This  man,  first  and  only,  he  found  having 
no  sin,  free  from  guilt,  owing  nothing  to  the  laws  of  his 
jurisdiction.  But  leagued  with  Jewish  madness,  Death 
comes  again  to  the  assault,  and  desperately  invades  the 
Life-giver.  And  Jesus,  when  he  had  cried  again  tvith  a 
loud  voice,  yielded  up  the  ghost.  Wherefore  should  we 
be  offended  that  Christ  came  from  the  bosom  of  the  Father 
to  take  upon  Him  our  bondage,  that  He  might  confer  on  us 
His  freedom ;  to  take  upon  Him  our  death,  that  we  might 
be  set  free  by  His  death  ;  by  despising  death  He  exalted  us 
mortals  into  Gods,  counted  them  of  earth  worthy  of  things 


VER.  45 — 50.  ST.  MATTHEW. 

in  heaven  ?  For  seeing  the  Divine  power  shines  forth  so 
brilliant  in  the  contemplation  of  its  works,  it  is  an  argument 
of  boundless  love,  that  it  suffers  for  its  subjects,  dies  for  its 
bondsmen.  This  then  was  the  first  cause  of  the  Lord's 
Passion,  that  He  would  have  it  known  how  great  God's  love 
to  man,  Who  desired  rather  to  be  loved  than  feared.  The 
second  was  that  He  might  abolish  with  yet  more  justice  the 
sentence  of  death  which  He  had  with  justice  passed.  For 
as  the  first  man  had  by  guilt  incurred  death  through  God's  sen 
tence,  and  handed  down  the  same  to  his  posterity,  the  second 
Man,  who  knew  no  sin,  came  from  heaven  that  death  might 
be  condemned,  which,  when  commissioned  to  seize  the 
guilty,  had  presumed  to  touch  the  Author  of  sinlessness. 
And  it  is  no  wonder  if  for  us  He  laid  down  what  He  had 
taken  of  us,  His  life,  namely,  when  He  has  done  other  so 
great  things  for  us,  and  bestowed  so  much  on  us.  PsEUDO-Auo.  Vigil. 
Far  be  from  the  faithful  any  suspicion  that  Christ  experienced  p°e°[pia 
our  death  in  such  sort  that  life  (as  far  as  it  can)  ceased  to  num.  u. 
live.  Had  this  been  so,  how  could  aught  have  been  said  to 
live  during  that  three  days,  if  the  Fountain  of  Life  itself  was 
dried  up  ?  Therefore  Christ's  Godhead  experienced  death 
through  its  partaking  of  humanity  or  of  human  feeling,  which 
it  had  voluntarily  taken  on  it ;  but  it  lost  not  the  properties 
of  its  nature  by  which  it  gives  life  to  all  things.  For  when 
we  die,  without  doubt  the  loss  of  life  by  the  body  is  not  the 
destruction  of  the  soul,  but  the  soul  quitting  the  body  loses 
not  its  own  properties,  but  only  lets  go  what  it  had  quickened, 
and  as  far  as  in  it  lays  produces  the  death  of  somewhat  else, 
but  itself  defies  death.  To  speak  now  of  the  Saviour's  soul ; 
it  might  depart  without  being  itself  destroyed  from  His  body 
for  this  three  days'  space,  even  by  the  common  laws  of  death, 
and  without  taking  into  account  the  indwelling  Godhead, 
and  His  singular  righteousness.  For  I  believe  that  the  Son 
of  God  died  not  in  punishment  of  unrighteousness  which 
He  had  not  at  all,  but  according  to  the  law  of  that  nature 
which  He  took  upon  Him  for  the  redemption  of  the  human 
race.  DAMASC.  Although  He  died  as  man,  and  His  holy™  d 
soul  was  separated  from  His  unstained  body,  yet  His  God-  Fid. 
head  remained  inseparate  from  either  body  or  soul.  Yet  27?  '"' 
was  not  the  one  Person  divided  into  two ;  for  as  both 
VOL.  i.  3  Q 


962  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

body  and  soul  had  from  the  beginning  an  existence  in  the 

Person   of  the   Word,   so   also  had   they    in    death.      For 

neither  soul  nor  body  had  ever  a  Person  of  their  own,  besides 

the   Person    of  the    Word.      JEROME;    It   was   a  mark   of 

Divine  power  in  Him  thus  to  dismiss  the  Spirit  as  Himself 

John  10,  had  said,  No  man  can  take  my  life  from  me,  but  I  lay  it 

down  and  take  it  again.     For  by  the  ghost  in  this  place  we 

understand  the  soul ;  so  called  either  because  it  is  that  which 

makes  the  body  quick  or  spiritual,  or  because  the  substance 

of  the  soul  itself  is  spirit,  according  to  that  which  is  written, 

Ps.  104,  Thou  takest  away  their  breath,  and  they  die.     CHRYS.  Also 

for  this  reason  He  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice  to  shew  that 

this  is  done  by  His  own  power.     For  by  crying  out  with  a 

loud  voice  when  dying,  He  shewed  incontestably  that  He  was 

the  true  Gol;  because  a  man  in  dying  can  scarcely  utter 

Aug.  deeven  a  feeble  sound.     AUG.  Luke  mentions  the  words  which 

EvT'iii.  He  thus   cries  out,  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my 

18-        Spirit.     HILARY;  Or,  He  gave  up  the  ghost  with  a  loud  voice, 

in  grief  that  He  was  not  carrying  the  sins  of  all  men. 

51.  And,  behold,  the  veil  of  the  temple  was   rent 
in  twain  from  the  top  to  the  bottom ;   and  the  earth 
did  quake,  and  the  rocks  rent ; 

52.  And  the  graves  were  opened  ;  and  many  bodies 
of  the  saints  which  slept  arose, 

53.  And  came  out  of  the  graves  after  his  resurrec 
tion,  and  went  into  the  holy  city,  and  appeared  unto 
many. 

54.  Now  when  the  centurion,  and  they  that  were 
with  him,  watching  Jesus,  saw  the   earthquake,  and 
those   things   that   were   done,  they  feared  greatly, 
saying,  Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God. 

55.  And  many  women  were  there  beholding  afar 
off,   which  followed  Jesus  from   Galilee,  ministering 
unto  him : 

56.  Among  which  was  Mary  Magdalene,  and  Mary 
the  mother  of  James  and  Joses,  and  the  mother  of 
Zebedee's  children. 


VKtf.  51 56.  ST.  MATTHEW.  963 

ORIGEN  ;  Great  things  were  done  at  the  moment  that  Jesus 
cried  with  a  great  voice.    AUG.  The  wording  sufficiently  shews  Aug.  do 
that  the  veil  was  rent  just  when  He  gave  up  the  ghost.     If  E"""-^ 
he  had  not  added,  And,  lo !  but  had  merely  said,  And  the  veil  19- 
of  the  temple  was  rent,  it  would  have  been  uncertain  whether 
Matthew  and  Mark  had  not  inserted  it  here  out  of  its  place 
as  they  recollected,  and  Luke  had  observed  the  right  order, 
who  having  said,  And  the  sun  was  darkened,  adds,  And  the  Luke 
veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  twain ;   or,  on  the  contrary, 23'     ' 
Luke  had  returned  to  what  they  had  inserted  in  its  place. 
ORIGEN;   It  is  understood   that  there  were  two  veils;   one 
veiling  the  Holy  of  Holies,  the  other,  the  outer  part  of  the 
tabernacle  or  temple.     In  the  Passion  then  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour,  it  was  the  outer  veil  which  was  rent  from  the  top  to 
the  bottom,  that  by  the  rending  of  the  veil  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  the  world,  the  mysteries  might  be  published 
which  had   been   hid   with   good   reason  until  the   Lord's 
coming.     But  when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come,  then  the  i  Cor. 
second  veil  also  shall  be  taken  away,  that  we  may  see  the  13' 10< 
things  that  are  hidden  within,  to  wit,  the  true  Ark  of  the 
Testament,  and  behold  the  Cherubim  and  the  rest  in  their 
real  nature.     HILARY;  Or,  The  veil  of  the  temple  is  rent, 
because  from  this  time  the  nation  was  dispersed,  and  the 
honour  of  the  veil  is  taken  away  with  the  guardianship  of  the 
protecting  Angel.     LEO;  The  sudden  commotion  in  the  ele-'Leo, in 
ments  is  a  sufficient  sign  in  witness  of  His  venerable  Passion, 
The  earth  quaked,  and  the  rocks  rent,  and  the  graves 
opened.     JEROME  ;  It  is  not  doubtful  to  any  what  these  great 
signs  signify  according  to  the  letter,  namely,  that  heaven  and 
earth  and  all  things  should  bear  witness  to  their  crucified 
Lord.     HILARY  ;  The  earth  quaked,  because  it  was  unequal 
to  contain  such  a  body;  the  rocks  rent,  for  the  Word  of  God 
that  pierces  all  strong  and  mighty  things,  and  the  virtue  of  the 
eternal  Power  had  penetrated  them  ;  the  graves  were  opened, 
for  the  bands  of  death  were  loosed.     And  many  bodies  of  the 
saints  which  slept  arose,  for  illumining  the  darkness  of  death, 
and  shedding  light  upon  the  gloom  of  Hades,  He  robbed  the 
spirits  of  death.     CHRYS.  When  He  remained  on  the  cross 
they  had  said  tauntingly,  He  saved  others,  himself  he  cannot 
save.     But  what  He  would  not  do  for  Himself,  that  He  did 

3  Q2 


GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

and  more  than  that  for  the  bodies  of  the  Saints.  For  if  it  was 
a  great  thing  to  raise  Lazarus  after  four  days,  much  more  was 
it  that  they  who  had  long  slept  should  now  shew  themselves 
alive;  this  is  indeed  a  proof  of  the  resurrection  to  come. 
But  that  it  might  not  be  thought  that  that  which  was  done 
was  an  appearance  merely,  the  Evangelist  adds,  And  came 
out  of  the  graves  after  his  resurrection,  and  went  into  the 
holy  city,  and  appeared  unto  many.  JEROME;  As  Lazarus 
rose  from  the  dead,  so  also  did  many  bodies  of  the  Saints  rise 
again  to  shew  forth  the  Lord's  resurrection ;  yet  notwithstand 
ing  that  the  graves  were  opened,  they  did  not  rise  again  before 
the  Lord  rose,  that  He  might  be  the  first-born  of  the  resurrection 
from  the  dead.  The  holy  city  in  which  they  were  seen  after 
they  had  risen  may  be  understood  to  mean  either  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem,  or  this  earthly,  which  once  had  been  holy.  For 
the  city  of  Jerusalem  was  called  Holy  on  account  of  the 
Temple  and  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  to  distinguish  it  from 
other  cities  in  which  idols  were  worshipped.  When  it  is 
said,  And  appeared  unto  many,  it  is  signified  that  this  was 
not  a  general  resurrection  which  all  should  see,  but  special, 
seen  only  by  such  as  were  worthy  to  see  it.  REMIG.  But 
some  one  will  ask,  what  became  of  those  who  rose  again  when 
the  Lord  rose.  We  must  believe  that  they  rose  again  to  be 
witnesses  of  the  Lord's  resurrection.  Some  have  said  that 
they  died  again,  and  were  turned  to  dust,  as  Lazarus  and  the 
rest  whom  the  Lord  raised.  But  we  must  by  no  means  give 
credit  to  these  men's  sayings,  since  if  they  were  to  die  again, 
it  would  be  greater  torment  to  them,  than  if  they  had  not 
risen  again.  We  ought  therefore  to  believe  without  hesitation 
that  they  who  rose  from  the  dead  at  the  Lord's  resurrection, 
ascended  also  into  heaven  together  with  Him. 

ORIGEN;  These  same  mighty  works  are  still  done  every  day  j 
the  veil  of  the  temple  is  rent  for  the  Saints,  in  order  to  reveal 
the  things  that  are  contained  within.  The  earth  quakes,  that  is, 
all  flesh  because  of  the  new  word  and  new  things  of  the  New 
Testament.  The  rocks  are  rent,  i.  e.  the  mystery  of  the  Pro 
phets,  that  we  may  see  the  spiritual  mysteries  hid  in  their 
depths.  The  graves  are  the  bodies  of  sinfuf souls,  that  is, 
souls  dead  to  God;  but  when  by  God's  grace  these  souls  have 
been  raised,  their  bodies  which  before  were  graves,  become 


VER.  51 56.  ST.  MATTHEW.  965 

bodies  of  Saints,  and  appear  to  go  out  of  themselves,  and 
follow  Him  who  rose  again,  and  walk  with  Him  in  newness 
of  life;  and  such  as  are  worthy  to  have  their  conversation  in 
heaven  enter  into  the  Holy  City  at  divers  times,  and  appear 
unto  many  who  see  their  good  works. 

AUG.  It  is  no  contradiction  here  that  Matthew  says,  that  Aug.  de 
The  centurion  and  they  that  were  with  him,  watching  Jesus,  EV.  iii. 
feared  when  they  saw  the  earthquake,  and  the  things  that 20- 
were  done;  while  Luke  says,  that  he  wondered  at  the  giving 
up  the  ghost  with  a  loud  voice.  For  when  Matthew  adds, 
the  things  that  were  done,  this  gives  full  scope  for  Luke's 
expression,  that  he  wondered  at  the  Lord's  death,  for  this 
among  the  rest  was  wonderful.  JEROME;  Observe,  that  in  the 
very  midst  of  the  offence  of  His  passion  the  Centurion 
acknowledges  the  Son  of  God,  while  Arius  in  the  Church 
proclaims  Him  a  creature.  RABAN.  Whence  with  good 
reason  by  the  Centurion  is  denoted  the  faith  of  the  Church, 
which,  when  the  veil  of  heavenly  mysteries  had  been  rent  by 
the  Lord's  death,  immediately  asserts  Jesus  to  be  both  very 
Man,  and  truly  Son  of  God,  while  the  Synagogue  held  its 
peace.  LEO  ;  From  this  example  then  of  the  Centurion  let  Leo, 
the  substance  of  the  earth  tremble  in  the  punishment  of  itS 
Redeemer,  let  the  rocks  of  unbelieving  minds  be  rent,  and 
those  who  were  pent  up  in  these  sepulchres  of  mortality 
leap  forth,  bursting  the  bonds  that  would  detain  them ;  and 
let  them  shew  themselves  in  the  Holy  City,  i.  e.  the  Church 
of  God,  as  signs  of  the  Resurrection  to  come ;  and  thus  let 
that  take  place  in  the  heart,  which  we  must  believe  takes 
place  in  the  body. 

JEROME  ;  It  was  a  Jewish  custom,  and  held  DO  disgrace, 
according  to  the  manners  of  the  people  of  old,  for  women  to 
minister  of  their  substance,  food,  and  clothing  to  their 
teachers.  This  Paul  says,  that  he  refused,  because  it  might 
occasion  scandal  among  the  Gentiles.  They  ministered  to 
the  Lord  of  their  substance,  that  He  might  reap  their  carnal 
things,  of  whom  they  reaped  spiritual  things.  Not  that  the 
Lord  needed  food  of  the  creature,  but  that  He  might  set  an 
example  for  the  teacher,  that  He  should  be  content  to  receive 
food  and  clothing  from  His  disciples.  But  let  us  see  what 
sort  of  attendants  He  had  ;  Among  whom  was  Mary  Magda- 


966  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

lene,  and  Mary  the  mother  of  James  and  Joseph,  and  the 
mother  of  Zebedee' s  children.  ORIGEN;  In  Mark  the  third 
is  called  Salome.  CHRYS.  These  women  thus  watching  the 
things  that  are  done  are  the  most  compassionate,  the  most 
sorrowful.  They  had  followed  Him  ministering,  and  re 
mained  by  Him  in  danger,  shewing  the  highest  courage,  for 
Hieron.  when  the  disciples  fled  they  remained.  JEROME  ;  '  See,'  says 
HelVid.  Helvidius, '  Jacob  and  Joseph  are  the  sons  of  Mary  the  Lord's 
Mark  6,  mother,  whom  the  Jews  call  the  brethren  of  Christ.  He  is  also 
called  James  the  less,  to  distinguish  him  from  James  the 
greater,  who  was  the  son  of  Zebedee.'  And  he  urges  that '  it 
were  impious  to  suppose  that  His  mother  Mary  would  be 
absent,  when  the  other  women  were  there ;  or  that  we  should 
have  to  invent  some  other  third  unknown  person  of  the  name 
of  Mary,  and  that  too  when  John's  Gospel  witnesses  that 
His  mother  was  present.'  O  blind  folly !  O  mind  perverted 
to  its  own  destruction !  Hear  what  the  Evangelist  John  says  : 
John  19,  There  stood  by  the  cross  of  Jesus,  his  mother,  and  his 
mother's  sister,  Mary  the  wife  of  Cleophas,  and  Mary 
Magdalene.  No  one  can  doubt  that  there  were  two  Apostles 
called  James  ;  the  son  of  Zebedee,  and  the  son  of  Alpheus. 
This  unknown  James  the  less,  whom  Scripture  mentions  as 
the  son  of  Mary,  if  he  is  an  Apostle,  is  the  son  of  Alpheus ; 
if  he  is  not  an  Apostle,  but  a  third  unknown  James,  how  can 
he  be  supposed  to  be  the  Lord's  brother,  and  why  should  he 
be  styled  '  The  Less,'  to  distinguish  him  from  '  The  Greater?' 
For  The  Greater  and  The  Less  are  epithets  which  distinguish 
two  persons,  but  not  three.  And  that  the  James,  the  Lord's 
Gal.  i,  brother,  was  an  Apostle,  is  proved  by  Paul,  Other  of  the 
Apostles  saw  I  none,  save  James  the  Lord's  brother.  But 
that  you  should  not  suppose  this  James  to  be  the  son  of 
Acts  12,  Zebedee,  read  the  Acts,  where  he  was  put  to  death  by  Herod. 
rid.  sup.  The  conclusion  then  remains,  that  this  Mary,  who  is  described 
J3,  65.  as  t^  niother  of  James  the  less,  was  wife  of  Alpheus,  and 
sister  of  Mary  the  Lord's  mother,  called  by  John,  Mary  the 
wife  of  Cleophas.  But  should  you  incline  to  think  them 
two  different  persons,  because  in  one  place  she  is  called 
Mary  the  mother  of  James  the  less,  and  in  another  place 
Mary  the  wife  of  Cleophas,  you  will  learn  the  Scripture 
custom  of  calling  the  same  man  by  different  names;  as 


VER.  57 — 61.  ST.  MATTHEW,  967 

Raguel  Moses'  father-in-law  is  called  Jethro.  In  like  manner 
then,  Mary  the  wife  of  Cleophas  is  called  the  wife  of  Alpheus, 
and  the  mother  of  James  the  less.  For  if  she  had  been  the 
Lord's  mother,  the  Evangelist  would  here,  as  in  all  other 
places,  have  called  her  so,  and  not  described  her  as  the 
mother  of  James,  when  he  meant  to  designate  the  mother  of 
the  Lord.  But  even  if  Mary  the  wife  of  Cleophas,  and  Mary 
the  mother  of  James  and  Joses,  were  different  persons,  it  is  still 
certain,  that  Mary  the  mother  of  James  and  Joses  was  not  the 
Lord's  mother.  AUG.  We  might  have  supposed  that  some  of  the  Aug. 
women  stood  afar  ojf,  as  three  Evangelists  say,  and  others  near  u 
the  cross,  as  John  says,  had  not  Matthew  and  Mark  reckoned 
Mary  Magdalen  among  those  that  stood  afar  off,  while  John 
puts  her  among  those  that  stood  near.  This  is  reconciled  if 
we  understand  the  distance  at  which  they  were  to  be  such 
that  they  might  be  said  to  be  near,  because  they  were  in  His 
sight ;  but  far  off  in  comparison  of  the  crowd  who  stood 
nearer  with  the  centurion  and  soldiers.  We  might  also 
suppose  that  they  who  were  there  together  with  the  Lord's 
mother,  began  to  depart  after  He  had  commended  her  to  the 
disciple,  that  they  might  extricate  themselves  from  the  crowd, 
and  looked  on  from  a  distance  at  the  other  things  which 
were  done,  so  that  the  Evangelists,  who  speak  of  them  after 
the  Lord's  death,  speak  of  them  as  standing  afar  off; 

57.  When  the  even  was  come,  there  came  a  rich 
man  of  Arimathea,  named  Joseph,  who  also  himself 
was  Jesus'  disciple : 

58.  He  went  to  Pilate,  and  begged  the  body  of 
Jesus.      Then   Pilate   commanded   the   body   to   be 
delivered. 

59.  And    when   Joseph   had  taken  the  body,   he 
wrapped  it  in  a  clean  linen  cloth, 

60.  And  laid  it  in  his  own   new  tomb,  which  he 
had  hewn  out  in  the  rock :    and  he  rolled  a  great 
stone  to  the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  and  departed. 

61.  And  there  was  Mary  Magdalene,  and  the  other 
Mary,  sitting  over  against  the  sepulchre. 


968  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

Gloss.  GLOSS.  When  the  Evangelist  had  finished  the  order  of  the 
c' Lord's  Passion  and  death,  he  treats  of  His  burial.  REMIG. 
Arimathea  is  the  same  as  Ramatha,  the  city  of  Helcana  and 
Samuel,  and  is  situated  in  the  Chananitic  country  near 
Diospolis.  This  Joseph  was  a  man  of  great  dignity  in 
respect  of  worldly  station,  but  has  the  praise  of  much  higher 
merit  in  God's  sight,  seeing  he  is  described  as  righteous. 
Indeed  he  that  should  have  the  burial  of  the  Lord's  body 
ought  to  have  been  such,  that  he  might  be  deserving  of  that 
office  by  righteous  merit.  JEROME  ;  He  is  described  as  rich, 
not  out  of  any  ambition  on  the  part  of  the  writer  to  represent 
so  noble  and  rich  a  man  as  Jesus'  disciple,  but  to  shew  how 
he  was  able  to  obtain  the  body  of  Jesus  from  Pilate.  For 
poor  and  unknown  individuals  would  not  have  dared  to 
approach  Pilate,  the  representative  of  Roman  power,  and  ask 
the  body  of  a  crucified  malefactor.  In  another  Gospel  this 
Joseph  is  called  a  counsellor ;  and  it  is  supposed  that  the 
PS. l,i.  first  Psalm  has  reference  to  him,  Blessed  is  the  man  that 
walketh  not  in  the  counsel  of  the  ungodly.  CHRYS.  Consider 
this  man's  courage;  he  risked  his  life,  and  took  upon  him 
many  enmities  in  order  to  render  this  service ;  and  not  only 
dares  to  ask  for  Christ's  body,  but  also  to  bury  it.  JEROME  ; 
By  this  simple  burial  of  the  Lord  is  condemned  the  ostenta 
tion  of  the  rich,  who  cannot  dispense  with  lavish  expense 
even  in  their  tombs.  But  we  may  also  consider  in  a  spiritual 
sense,  that  the  Lord's  body  was  wrapped  not  in  gold,  jewels, 
or  silk,  but  in  clean  linen;  and  that  he  who  wrapped  it, 
is  he  who  embraces  Jesus  with  a  pure  heart.  REMIG.  Or, 
otherwise ;  The  linen  is  grown  out  of  the  ground,  and  is 
bleached  to  whiteness  with  great  labour,  and  thus  this  sig 
nifies  that  His  body  which  was  taken  of  the  earth,  that  is  of 
a  Virgin,  through  the  toil  of  passion  came  to  the  whiteness  of 
immortality.  RABAN.  From  this  also  has  prevailed  in  the 
Church  the  custom  of  celebrating  the  sacrifice  of  the  altar 
not  in  silk,  or  in  coloured  robes,  but  in  linen  grown  from 
the  earth,  as  we  read,  was  ordered  by  the  Holy  Pope  Sil- 
Pseudo-  vester.  PSEUDO-AUG.  The  Saviour  was  laid  in  a  tomb 
Serai,  belonging  to  another  man,  because  He  died  for  the  salvation 
APP-  of  others.  For  why  should  He  who  in  Himself  had  no 
death,  have  been  laid  in  His  own  tomb  ?  Or  He  whose  place 


VER.  57 61.  ST.  MATTHEW.  969 

was  reserved  for  Him  in  heaven,  have  had  a  monument  upon 
earth  ?  He  who  remained  but  three  days  space  in  the  tomb, 
not  as  dead,  but  as  resting  on  His  bed  ?  A  tomb  is  the  neces 
sary  abode  of  death  ;   Christ  then,  who  is  our  life,  could  not 
have  an  abode  of  death ;  He  that  ever  liveth  had  no  need  of 
the  dwelling  of  the  departed.     JEROME;  He  is  laid  in  a  new 
tomb,  lest  after  His  resurrection  it  should  be  pretended  that 
it  was  some  other  who  had  risen  when  they  saw  the  other 
bodies  there  remaining.      The  new  tomb  may  also  signify 
the  virgin  womb  of  Mary.      And  He  was  laid  in   a  tomb 
hewn  out  of  the  rock,  lest  had  it  been  one  raised  of  many 
stones,  it  might  have  been  said  that  He  was  stolen  away  by 
undermining  the  foundations  of  the  pile.     PsEUDO-Auo.  Had  'Aug.in 
the  tomb  been  in  the  earth,  it  might  have  been  said  they  non  0"cc. 
undermined  the  place,  and  so  carried  Him  off.      Had  a  small 
stone  been  laid  thereon,  they  might  have  said,  They  carried 
Him  off  while  we  slept.     JEROME  ;  That  a  great  stone  was 
rolled  there,  shews  that  the  tomb  could  not  have  been  re 
opened    without  the    united   strength    of  many.      HILARY  ; 
Mystically,  Joseph    affords   a   figure   of  the  Apostles.     He 
wraps  the  body  in  a  clean  linen  cloth,  in  which  same  linen 
sheet  were  let  down  to  Peter  out  of  heaven  all  manner  of 
living    creatures;    whence   we  understand,  that   under   the 
representation    of   this   linen    cloth    the    Church   is   buried 
together   with  Christ.      The  Lord's  body  moreover  is  laid 
in  a  chamber  hewn  out  of  rock,  empty  and  new ;    that  is, 
by  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles,  Christ  is  conveyed  into  the 
hard  breast  of  the  Gentiles  hewn  out  by  the  toil  of  teaching, 
rude  and  new,  hitherto  unpenetrated  by  any  fear  of  God. 
And  for  that  besides  Him  ought  nothing  to  enter  our  breasts, 
a  stone  is  rolled  to  the  mouth,  that  as  before  Him  we  had 
received  no  author  of  divine  knowledge,  so  after  Him  we 
should  admit  none.     ORIGEN  ;  This  is  no  casual  mention  of 
the  circumstances  that  the  body  was  wrapped  in  clean  linen, 
and  laid  in  a  new  tomb,  and  a  great  stone  rolled  to  the 
mouth,  but   that   every  thing  touching  the   body  of  Jesus 
is  clean,  and  new,  and  very  great.     REMIG.  When  the  Lord's 
body  was  buried,  and  the  rest  returned  to  their  own  places, 
the    women    alone,  who   had   loved    Him    more    attachedly 
adhered    to   Him,  and   with  anxious  care  noted   the    place 


970  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVII. 

where  the  Lord's  body  was  laid,  that  at  fit  time  they  might 
perform  the  service  of  their  devotion  to  him.  ORIGEN  ;  The 
mother  of  the  sons  of  Zebedee  is  not  mentioned  as  having 
sat  over  against  the  sepulchre.  And  perhaps  she  was  able 
to  endure  as  far  as  the  cross  only,  but  these  as  stronger  in 
love  were  not  absent  even  from  the  things  that  were  afterwards 
done.  JEROME  ;  Or,  when  the  rest  left  the  Lord,  the  women 
continued  in  their  attendance,  looking  for  what  Jesus  had 
promised ;  and  therefore  they  deserved  to  be  the  first  to  see 
Matt,  the  resurrection,  because  he  that  endureth  to  the  end  shall 
' 22-  be  saved.  REMIG.  And  to  this  day  the  holy  women,  that 
is,  the  lowly  souls  of  the  saints,  do  the  like  in  this  present 
world,  and  with  pious  assiduity  wait  while  Christ's  passion 
is  being  completed. 

62.  Now  the  next  day,  that  followed  the  day  of 
the   preparation,    the    Chief  Priests    and    Pharisees 
came  together  unto  Pilate, 

63.  Saying,  Sir,  we  remember  that  that  deceiver 
said,  while  he  was  yet  alive,  After  three  days  I  will 
rise  again. 

64.  Command  therefore  that  the  sepulchre  be  made 
sure  until  the  third  day,  lest  his  disciples  come  by 
night,  and  steal  him  away,  and  say  unto  the  people, 
He  is  risen  from  the  dead  :  so  the  last  error  shall  be 
worse  than  the  first. 

65  Pilate  said  unto  them,  Ye  have  a  watch  :  go 
your  way,  make  it  as  sure  as  ye  can. 

66  So  they  went  and   made  the  sepulchre    sure, 
sealing  the  stone,  and  setting  a  watch. 

JEROME;  It  was  not  enough  for  the  Chief  Priests  to  have 
crucified  the  Lord  the  Saviour,  if  they  did  not  guard  the 
sepulchre,  and  do  their  utmost  to  lay  hands  on  Him  as  He 
rose  from  the  dead.  RABAN.  By  the  Parasceve  is  meant 
*  preparation ;'  and  they  gave  this  name  to  the  sixth  day  of 
the  week,  on  which  they  made  ready  the  things  needed  for 


VEB.  62 — 6ti.  ST.  MATTHEW.  971 

the  Sabbath,  as  was  commanded  respecting  the  manna,  On  Exod. 
the  sixth  day  they  gathered  twice  as  much.     Because  on 
the    sixth   day   man   was  made,   and   on  the  seventh  God 
rested;  therefore  on  the  sixth  day  Jesus  died  for  man,  and 
rested  the  Sabbath  day  in   the   tomb.      The  Chief  Priests 
although  in  putting  the  Lord  to  death  they  had  committed 
a  heinous  crime,  yet  were  they  not  satisfied  unless  even  after 
His  death  they  carried  on  the  venom  of  their  malice  once 
begun,  traducing  His  character,  and  calling  one,  whom  they 
knew  to  be  guileless,  a  deceiver.     But  as  Caiaphas  prophe- Johnii, 
sied  without  knowing  it,  that  it  is  expedient  that  one  man     ' 
should  die  for  the  people,  so  now,  Christ  was  a  deceiver1,  not l  seduc- 
from  truth  into  error,  but  leading  men  from  error  to  truth,  Ol 
from  vices  to  virtue,  from  death  to  life.      REMIG.  They  say 
that  He  had  declared,  After  three  days  I  will  rise  again,  in 
consequence  of  that  He  said  above,  As  Jonas  was  three  days  Matt. 
and  three  flights  in  the  whale's  belli/,  $c.     But  let  us  see  in  2' 
what  way  He  can  be  said  to  have  risen  again  after  three 
days.     Some  would  have  the  three  hours  of  darkness  under 
stood  as  one  night,  and  the  light  succeeding  the  darkness  as 
a  day,  but  these  do  not  know  the  force  of  figurative  language. 
The  sixth  day  of  the  week  on  which  He  suffered  compre 
hended  the  foregoing  night ;    then  follows  the  night  of  the 
Sabbath  with  its  own  day,  and  the  night  of  the  Lord's  day 
includes  also  its  own  day ;  and  hence  it  is  true  that  He  rose 
again  after  three  days.     AUG.  He  rose  again  after  three  days,  <A     in 
to  signify  the  consent  of  the  whole  Trinity  in  the  passion  of  Serm.' 
the  Son;  the  three  days'  space  is  read  figuratively,  because 
the  Trinity  which  in  the  beginning  made  man,  the  same  in 
the  end  restores  man  by  the  passion  of  Christ. 

RABAN.  Command  therefore  that  the  sepulchre  be  made 
sure  until  the  third  day.  For  Christ's  disciples  were 
spiritually  thieves ;  stealing  from  the  unthankful  Jews  the 
writings  of  the  New  and  Old  Testament,  they  bestowed 
them  to  be  used  by  the  Church ;  and  while  they  slept,  that 
is,  while  the  Jews  were  sunk  in  the  lethargy  of  unbelief,  they 
carried  off  the  promised  Saviour,  arid  gave  Him  to  be  believed 
on  by  the  Gentiles.  HILARY;  Their  fear  lest  the  body  should 
be  stolen,  the  setting  a  watch  on  the  tomb,  and  sealing  it, 
are  marks  of  folly  and  unbelief,  that  they  should  have  sought 


972  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  MATTHEW.        CHAP.  XXVII. 

to  seal  up  the  tomb  of  One  at  whose  bidding  they  had  seen  a 
dead  man  raised  from  the  tomb.  RABAN.  When  they  say, 
And  the  last  error  will  be  worse  than  the  Jirsf,  they  utter  a 
truth  unwittingly,  for  their  contempt  of  penitence  was  worse 

Horn8    f°r  the  Jews  than  was  their  error  of  ignorance.      CHRYS. 

Ixxxix.  Observe  how  against  their  will  they  concert  to  demonstrate 
the  truth,  for  by  their  precautions  irrefragable  demonstration 
of  the  resurrection  was  attained.  The  sepulchre  was  watched, 
and  so  no  fraud  could  have  been  practised ;  and  if  there  was 
no  collusion,  it  is  certain  that  the  Lord  rose  again.  RABAN. 
Pilate's  answer  to  their  request  is  as  much  as  to  say,  Be  it 
enough  for  you  that  ye  have  conspired  the  death  of  an 
innocent  man,  henceforth  let  your  error  remain  with  you. 
CHRYS.  Pilate  will  not  suffer  that  the  soldiers  alone  should 
seal.  But  as  though  he  had  learnt  the  truth  concerning 
Christ,  he  was  no  longer  willing  to  be  partner  in  their  acts, 
and  says,  Seal  it  as  ye  will  yourselves,  that  ye  may  not  be 
able  to  accuse  others.  For  had  the  soldiers  alone  sealed, 
they  might  have  said  that  the  soldiers  had  suffered  the  dis 
ciples  to  steal  the  body,  and  so  given  the  disciples  a  handle 
to  forge  a  tale  concerning  the  resurrection ;  but  this  could 
they  not  say  now,  when  they  themselves  had  sealed  the 
sepulchre. 


CHAP.  XXVIII. 

1.  In  the  end  of  the  sabbath,  as  it  began  to  dawn 
toward  the  first  day  of  the  week,  came  Mary  Mag 
dalene  and  the  other  Mary  to  see  the  sepulchre. 

2.  And,  behold,  there  was  a  great  earthquake :  for 
the  angel  of  the  Lord  descended  from  heaven,  and 
came  and  rolled  back  the  stone  from  the  door,  and 
sat  upon  it. 

3.  His  countenance   was  like  lightning,   and   his 
raiment  white  as  snow  : 

4.  And  for  fear  of  him  the  keepers  did  shake,  and 
became  as  dead  men. 

5.  And    the    angel    answered    and    said  unto    the 
women,  Fear  not  ye :  for  I  know  that  ye  seek  Jesus, 
which  was  crucified. 

6.  He  is  not  here :    for  he  is    risen,   as  he  said. 
Come,  see  the  place  where  the  Lord  lay. 

7.  And  go  quickly  and  tell  his  disciples  that  he  is 
risen  from  the  dead ;    and,  behold,  he  goeth  before 
you  into  Galilee ;   there  shall  ye  see  him :  lo,  I  have 
told  you. 

^- 

PSEUDO-CHRYS.  After  the  mockings  and  scourgings,  after  the  Pseudo- 
mingled  draughts  of  vinegar  and  gall,  the  pains  of  the  cross,  H^s'de 
and  the  wounds,  and  finally  after  death  itself  and  Hades,  Resur. 
there  rose  again  from  the  grave  a  renewed  flesh,  there  re 
turned  from  obstruction  a  hidden  life,  health  chained  up  in 
death  broke  forth,  with  fresh  beauty  from  its  ruin.     AUG.  Aug.  de 
Concerning  the  hour  when  the  women  came  to  the  sepulchre  E°afjji. 

24. 


974  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVIII. 

there  arises  a  question  not  to  be  overlooked.  Matthew  here 
says,  On  the  evening  of  Ihe  Sabbath.  What  then  means  that 

Mark     of  Mark,  Very  early  in  the  morning,  the  first  day  of  the  week  ? 

16,  2.  Truly  Matthew,  by  naming  the  first  part  of  the  night,  to  wit, 
the  evening,  denotes  the  whole  night  in  the  end  of  which 
they  come  to  the  sepulchre.  But  seeing  the  Sabbath  hindered 
them  from  doing  this  before,  he  designates  the  whole  night 
by  the  earliest  portion  of  it  in  which  it  became  lawful  for 
them  to  do  whatever,  during  some  period  of  the  night,  they 
designed  to  do.  Thus,  On  the  evening  of  the  sabbath,  is 
just  the  same  as  if  he  had  said,  On  the  night  of  the  sabbath, 
i.  e.  the  night  which  follows  the  day  of  the  sabbath,  which  is 
sufficiently  proved  by  the  words  which  follow,  As  it  began  to 
dawn  towards  the  first  day  of  the  week.  This  could  not  be 
if  we  understood  only  the  first  portion  of  the  night,  its  be 
ginning,  to  be  conveyed  by  the  word,  evening.  For  the 
evening  or  beginning  of  the  night  does  not  begin  to  dawn 
towards  the  first  day  of  the  week,  but  only  the  night  which 
is  concluded  by  the  dawn.  And  this  is  the  usual  mode  of 
speaking  in  Holy  Scripture,  to  express  the  whole  by  a  part. 
By  evening  therefore  he  implied  the  night,  in  the  end  of 

Beda  in  which  they  came  to  the  sepulchre.      BEDE  ;    Otherwise ;  It 

loc  may  be  understood  that  they  began  to  come  in  the  evening, 
but  that  it  was  the  dawn  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  when 
they  reached  the  sepulchre ;  that  is,  that  they  prepared  the 
spices  for  anointing  the  Lord's  body  in  the  evening,  but  that 
they  took  them  to  the  sepulchre  in  the  morning.  This  has 
been  so  shortly  described  by  Matthew,  that  it  is  not  quite 
clear  in  his  account,  but  the  other  Evangelists  give  the  order 
more  distinctly.  The  Lord  was  buried  on  the  sixth  day  of 
the  week,  and  the  women  returning  from  the  sepulchre 
prepared  spices  and  ointments  as  long  as  it  was  lawful  to 
work;  on  the  sabbath  they  rested,  according  to  the  command 
ment,  as  Luke  plainly  declares ;  and  when  the  Sabbath  was 
past  and  the  evening  was  come,  and  the  season  of  labour 
returned,  with  zealous  devotion  they  proceeded  to  purchase 
such  spices  as  they  yet  lacked,  (this  is  implied  in  Mark's 
words,  when  the  sabbath  was  past,  that  they  might  go  and 
anoint  Jesus,  for  which  purpose  they  come  early  in  the 
morning  to  the  sepulchre.  JEROME  ;  Or,  otherwise  ;  This 


VER.  1 — 7.  ST.  MATTHEW.  975 

apparent  discrepancy  in  the  Evangelists  as  to  the  times  of 
their  visits  is  no  mark  of  falsehood,  as  wicked  men  urge,  but 
shews  the  sedulous  duty  and  attention  of  the  women,  often 
going  and  coming,  and  not  enduring  to  be  long  absent  from 
the  sepulchre  of  their  Lord. 

REMIG.  It  is  to  be  known  that  Matthew  designs  to  hint 
to  us  a  mystical  meaning,  of  how  great  worthiness  this  most 
holy  night  drew  from  the  noble  conquest  of  death,  and  the 
Resurrection  of  Our  Lord.  With  this  purpose  he  says,  On 
the  evening  of  the  Sabbath.  For  whereas  according  to  the 
wonted  succession  of  the  hours  of  the  day,  evening  does  not 
dawn  towards  day,  but  on  the  contrary  darkens  towards 
night,  these  words  shew  that  the  Lord  shed,  by  the  light  of 
His  resurrection  joy  and  brilliance  over  the  whole  of  this 
night.  BEDE;  For  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation  of  theBeda, 
world  until  now,  the  course  of  time  has  followed  this  arrange-  jEst.'i. 
ment,  that  the  day  should  go  before  the  night,  because  man, 
fallen  by  sin  from  the  light  of  paradise,  has  sunk  into  the 
darkness  and  misery  of  this  world.  But  now  most  fitly 
night  goes  before  day,  when,  through  faith  in  the  resurrection, 
we  are  brought  back  from  the  darkness  of  sin  and  the  shadow 
of  death  to  the  light  of  life,  by  the  bounty  of  Christ.  CHRY-  Chrys. 
soLOGUSg.  Because  the  sabbath  is  illuminated,  not  taken 


away,  by  Christ,  Who  said,  /  am  not  come  to  destroy  the  Matt.  5, 
Law,  but  to  fulfil  it.     It  is  illuminated  that  it  may  lighten 
into  the  Lord's  day,  and  shine  forth  in  the  Church,  when  it 
had  hitherto  burnt  dim,  and  been  obscured  by  the  Jews  in 
the  Synagogue. 

It  follows,  Came  Mary  Magdalen,  and  the  other  Mary, 
fyc.  Late  runs  woman  for  pardon,  who  had  run  early  to  sin; 
in  paradise  she  had  taken  up  unbelief,  from  the  sepulchre 
she  hastes  to  take  up  faith;  she  now  hastens  to  snatch 
life  from  death,  who  had  before  snatched  death  from  life. 
And  it  is  not,  They  come,  but  came,  (in  the  singular,)  for  in 
mystery  and  not  by  accident,  the  two  came  under  one  name. 
She  came,  but  altered ;  a  woman,  changed  in  life,  not  in  name ; 
in  virtue,  not  in  sex.  The  women  go  before  the  Apostles, 
bearing  to  the  Lord's  sepulchre  a  type  of  the  Churches ;  the 

*  The  Sermons  of  S.  Peter  of  quoted  in  the  Catena  under  the  name 
Ravenna,  surnamed  Chrysologus,  are  Severianus. 


976  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXV?III. 

two  Marys,  to  wit.  For  Mary  is  the  name  of  Christ's  mother ; 
and  one  name  is  twice  repeated  for  two  women,  because 
herein  is  figured  the  Church  coming  out  of  the  two  nations, 
the  Gentiles  and  the  Jews,  and  being  yet  one.  Mary  came 
to  the  sepulchre,  as  to  the  womb  of  the  resurrection,  that 
Christ  might  be  the  second  time  born  out  of  the  sepulchre  of 
faith,  who  after  the  flesh  had  been  born  of  her  womb;  and 
that  as  a  virgin  had  borne  Him  into  this  life  present,  so  a 
sealed  sepulchre  might  bring  Him  forth  into  life  eternal.  It 
is  proof  of  Deity  to  have  left  a  womb  virgin  after  birth,  and 
no  less  to  have  come  forth  in  the  body  from  a  closed  sepul 
chre.  JEROME;  And,  behold,  there  was  a  great  earthquake. 
Our  Lord,  Son  at  once  of  God  and  man,  according  to  His  two 
fold  nature  of  Godhead  and  of  flesh,  gives  a  sign  one  while  of 
His  greatness,  another  while  of  His  lowliness.  Thus,  though 
now  it  was  man  who  was  crucified,  and  man  who  was  buried, 
yet  the  things  that  were  done  around  shew  the  Son  of  God. 
HIL.  The  earthquake  is  the  might  of  the  resurrection,  when 
the  sting  of  death  being  blunted,  and  its  darkness  illuminated, 
there  is  stirred  up  a  quaking  of  the  powers  beneath,  as  the 
Lord  of  the  heavenly  powers  rises  again.  CHRYS.  Or  the 
earthquake  was  to  rouse  and  waken  the  women,  who  had 
come  to  anoint  the  body ;  and  as  all  these  things  were  done 
in  the  night-time,  it  was  probable  that  some  of  them  had 
Beda,  fallen  asleep.  BEDE;  The  earthquake  at  the  Resurrection,  as 
ubi  sup.  ajso  at  t|je  Crucifixion,  signifies  that  worldly  hearts  must  be 
first  moved  to  penitence  by  a  health-giving  fear  through 
Chrysol.  belief  in  His  Passion  and  Resurrection.  CHRYSOL.  Ifthe  earth 
77e™74  ^us  °iuaked  when  the  Lord  rose  again  to  the  pardon  of  the 
Saints,  how  will  it  quake  when  He  shall  rise  again  to  the 
Ps.  76,  punishment  of  the  wicked  ?  As  the  Prophet  speaks,  The 
earth  trembled  when  the  Lord  rose  again  to  judgment.  And 
how  will  it  endure  the  Lord's  presence,  when  it  was  unable  to 
endure  the  presence  of  His  Angel?  And  the  Angel  of  the 
Lord  descended  from  heaven.  For  when  Christ  arose,  death 
was  destroyed,  commerce  with  heaven  is  restored  to  things 
on  the  earth;  and  woman,  who  had  of  old  held  communication 
to  death  with  the  Devil,  now  holds  communication  to  life 
with  the  Angel.  HIL.  This  is  an  instance  of  the  mercy  of 
God  the  Father,  to  supply  the  ministry  of  heavenly  power  to 


VER.    1 — 7.  ST.  MATTHEW.  977 

the  Son  on  His  resurrection  from  the  grave;    and  he  is  there 
fore  the  proclaimer  of  this  first  resurrection,  that  it  may  be 
heralded  by  some  attendant  token  of  the  Father's  good  plea 
sure.      BEDE;    Forasmuch    as    Christ   is    both    God   andBeda 
man,   therefore    there    lack   not    amidst    the    acts   of  Hisu    sup' 
humanity  the  ministrations  of  Angels,  due  to  Him  as  God. 
And  came  and  rolled  back  the  stone ;  not  to  open  the  door 
for  the  Lord  to  come  forth,  but  to  give  evidence  to  men  that 
He   was  already  come  forth.      For  He  who  as  mortal  had 
power   to  enter  the  world  through  the  closed  womb  of  a 
Virgin,  He  when  become  immortal,  was  able  to  depart  out 
of  the  world  by  rising  from  a   sealed   sepulchre.      REMIG. 
The  rolling  back  of  the  stone  signifies  the  opening  of  Christ's 
sacraments,  which  were  covered  by  the  letter  of  the  Law. 
For  the  Law  having  been  writen  on  stones,  is  here  denoted 
by  the  stone.    CHRYSOL.  He  said  not '  rolled,'  but  rolled  back;  Chrys. 
because  the  rolling  to  of  the  stone  was  a  proof  of  death ;  74. 
the   rolling   it  back   asserted  the   resurrection.     The   order 
of  things    is   changed;    The   Tomb    devours    death,    and 
not  the  dead ;  the  house  of  death  becomes  the  mansion  of 
life;  a  new  law  is  imposed  upon  it,  it  receives  a  dead,  and 
renders  up  a  living,  man.     It  follows,  And  sat  thereon.    He 
sat  down,  who  was  incapable  of  weariness;    but  sat  as  a 
teacher   of  the  faith,  a  master   of  the  Resurrection;    upon 
the  stone,  that  the  firmness  of  his  seat  might  assure  the  sted- 
fastness  of  the  believers;  the  Angel  rested  the  foundations 
of  the  Faith  upon  that  rock,  on  which  Christ  was  to  found 
His  Church.      Or,  by  the  stone  of  the  sepulchre   may  be 
denoted  death,  under  which  we  all  lay ;  and  by  the  Angel 
sitting  thereon,  is  shewn  that  Christ  hath  by  His  might  sub 
dued  death.      BEDE;    And   rightly  did   the   Angel    appear  Beda 
standing,  who  proclaimed  the  Lord's  coming  into  the  world, u 
to  shew  that  the  Lord  should  come  to  vanquish  the  prince  of 
this  world.  But  the  Herald  of  the  Resurrection  is  related  to  have 
been  seated,  to  shew  that  now  He  had  overcome  him  that  had 
the  power  of  death,  He  had  mounted  the  throne  of  the  everlast 
ing  kingdom.   He  sate  upon  the  stone,  now  rolled  back,  where 
with  the  mouth  of  the  sepulchre  had  been  closed,  to  teach 
that  He  by  His  might  had  burst  the  bonds  of  the  tomb.  Aug. 
AUG.  It  may  disquiet  some,  how  it  is  that  according  to  Mat-  Eev  ^°s' 
VOL.  i.  3  R  24- 


i>78  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVIII. 

thew  the  Angel  sate  upon  the  stone  after  it  had  been  rolled 
back  from  the  sepulchre,  whereas  Mark  says  that  the  women 
having  gone  into  the  sepulchre,  saw  a  young  man  sitting  on 
the  right  hand.  Either  we  may  suppose  that  they  saw  two, 
and  that  Matthew  has  not  mentioned  him  whom  they  saw 
within,  nor  Mark  him  whom  they  saw  without  the  sepulchre  ; 
but  that  they  heard  from  each  severally  what  the  Angels  said 
Mark  concerning  Jesus.  Or  the  words,  entering  into  the  sepulchre, 
L6'6'  may  mean  entering  into  some  enclosed  place,  which  pro 
bably  there  might  be  in  front  of  the  rock  out  of  which 
the  sepulchre  was  hewn;  and  thus  it  might  be  the  same 
Angel  whom  they  saw  sitting  on  the  right  hand,  whom 
Matthew  describes  as  sitting  on  the  stone  which  he  had  rolled 
Chrysol.  back.  CHRYSOL.  The  splendour  of  his  countenance  is  distinct 
75™  from  the  shining  of  his  raiment  ;  his  countenance  is  compared 
to  lightning,  his  raiment  to  snow  ;  for  the  lightning  is  in 
Ps.  148,  heaven,  snow  on  the  earth;  as  the  Prophet  saith,  Praise 
the  Lord  from  the  earth;  fire  and  hail,  snow  and  vapours. 
Thus  in  the  Angel's  countenance  is  preserved  the  splendour 
of  his  heavenly  nature  ;  in  his  raiment  is  shewn  the  grace 
of  human  communion.  For  the  appearance  of  the  Angel 
that  talked  with  them  is  so  ordered,  that  eyes  of  flesh  might 
endure  the  still  splendour  of  his  robes,  and  by  reason  of  his 
shining  countenance  they  might  tremble  before  the  messenger 
Chrysol.  of  their  Maker.  ID.  But  what  means  this  raiment  where 
there  is  no  need  of  a  covering  ?  The  Angel  figures  our  dress, 
our  shape,  our  likeness  in  the  Resurrection,  when  man  is 
sufficiently  clothed  by  the  splendour  of  his  own  body. 
JEROME;  The  Angel  in  white  raiment  signifies  the  glory 
of  His  triumph.  GREG.  Or  otherwise  ;  Lightning  inspires 


Horn,  in  terror  j  snow  is  an  emblem  of  equity;  and  as  the  Almighty 

4.          God  is  terrible  to  sinners  and  mild  to  the  righteous,  so  this 

Angel  is  rightly  a  witness  of  His  resurrection,  and  is  exhibited 

with  a  countenance  as  lightning,  and  with  raiment  as  snow, 

that  by   His   presence   He  might   terrify  the  wicked,  and 

comfort  the  good  ;    and  so  it  follows,  And  for  fear  of  him 

the  keepers  did  shake.     RABAN.    These  who  had  not  the 

faith  of  love  were  shaken  with  a  panic  fear  ;    and  they  who 

would  not  believe  the  truth  of  the  resurrection  become  them- 

Chry  sol.  selves   as    dead   men.      CHRYSOL.    For    they    kept   watch 

Serm.75. 


VER.  1  —  7.  ST.  MATTHEW.  079 

over  Him  with  a  purpose  of  cruelty,  not  with  the  solicitude 
of  affection.  And  no  man  can  stand  who  is  forsaken  by 
his  own  conscience,  or  troubled  with  a  sense  of  guilt.  Hence 
the  Angel  confounds  the  wicked,  and  comforts  the  good. 
JEROME  ;  The  guards  lay  like  dead  men  in  a  trance  of  terror, 
but  the  Angel  speaks  comfort  not  to  them,  but  to  the  women, 
saying,  Fear  not  ye  ;  as  much  as  to  say,  Let  them  fear  with 
whom  unbelief  abides ;  but  do  ye  who  seek  the  crucified 
Jesus  hear  that  He  has  risen  again,  and  has  accomplished 
what  He  promised.  CHRYSOL.  For  their  faith  had  beenchrys. 
bowed  by  the  cruel  storm  of  His  Passion,  so  that  they^rm> 
sought  Him  yet  as  crucified  and  dead ;  /  know  that  ye  seek 
Jesus  which  was  crucified ;  the  weight  of  the  trial  had  bent 
them  to  look  for  the  Lord  of  heaven  in  the  tomb,  but,  He 
is  not  here.  RABAN.  His  fleshly  presence,  that  is;  for  His 
spiritual  presence  is  absent  from  no  place.  He  is  risen,  as 
he  said.  CHRYS.  As  much  as  to  say,  Ef  ye  believe  me  not, 
remember  His  own  words.  And  then  follows  further  proof, 
when  he  adds,  Come,  see  the  place  where  the  Lord  lay. 
JEROME  ;  That  if  my  words  fail  to  convince  you,  the  empty 
tomb  may.  CHRYSOL.  Thus  the  Angel  first  announces  His  Chry^. 
name,  declares  His  Cross,  and  confesses  His  Passion ;  but 
straightway  proclaims  Him  risen  and  their  Lord.  An  Angel 
after  such  sufferings,  after  the  grave  acknowledges  Him  Lord ; 
how  then  shall  man  judge  that  the  Godhead  was  diminished 
by  the  flesh,  or  that  His  Might  failed  in  His  Passion.  He 
says,  Which  was  crucified,  and  points  out  the  place  where 
the  Lord  was  laid,  that  they  should  not  think  that  it  was 
another,  and  not  the  same,  who  had  risen  from  the  dead. 
And  if  the  Lord  reappears  in  the  same  flesh,  and  gives 
evidence  of  His  resurrection,  why  should  man  suppose  that 
he  himself  shall  reappear  in  other  flesh  ?  Or  why  should 
a  slave  disdain  his  own  flesh,  seeing  the  Lord  did  not 
change  ours?  RABAN.  And  this  glad  tiding  is  given  not 
to  you  alone  for  the  secret  comfort  of  your  own  hearts,  but 
ye  must  extend  it  to  all  who  love  Him ;  Go  quickly,  and 
tell  his  disciples.  CHRYSOL.  As  much  as  to  say,  Woman,  Chrys. 
now  thou  art  healed,  return  to  the  man,  and  persuade  him 
to  faith,  whom  thou  didst  once  persuade  to  treachery.  Carry 
to  man  the  proof  of  the  Resurrection,  to  whom  thou  didst 

3  R2 


980  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVIII. 

once  carry  counsel  of  destruction.  CHRYS.  And,  behold,  he 
shall  go  before  you,  that  is,  to  save  you  from  danger,  lest 
fear  should  prevail  over  faith. 

JEROME  ;  Mystically  ;  He  shall  go  before  you  into  Galilee, 

i  voluta-  that  is,  into  the  wallowing  stye  *  of  the  Gentiles,  where  before  was 

wandering  and  stumbling,  and  the  foot  had  no  firm  and  steady 

Beda,    resting-place.     BEDE  ;    The   Lord  is   rightly  seen   by  His 

wbi  sup.  disciples  in  Galilee,  forasmuch  as  He  had  already  passed 

from  death  to  life,  from  corruption  to  incorruption ;  for  such 

is  the  interpretation  of  Galilee,  '  Transmigration.'     Happy 

women  !  who  merited  to  announce  to  the  world  the  triumph 

of  the  Resurrection  !     More  happy  souls,  who  in  the  day  of 

judgment,  when  the  reprobate  are  smitten  with  terror,  shall 

have  merited  to  enter  the  joy  of  the  blessed  resurrection! 


8.  And  they  departed  quickly  from  the  sepulchre 
with  fear  and  great  joy ;    and  did  run  to  bring  his 
disciples  word. 

9.  And  as  they  went  to  tell  his  disciples,  behold, 
Jesus  met  them,  saying,  All  hail.     And  they  came 
and  held  him  by  the  feet,  and  worshipped  him. 

10.  Then  said    Jesus  unto  them,  Be  not  afraid: 
go  tell  my  brethren  that  they  go  into  Galilee,  and 
there  shall  they  see  me. 

HILARY  ;  The  women  having  been  comforted  by  the  Angel, 

are  straightway  met  by  the   Lord,  that  when  they  should 

proclaim  His  resurrection  to  the  disciples,  they  should  speak 

Aug.  de  rather  from  Christ's  own  mouth  than  from  an  Angel's.     AUG. 

Cons.     Tfiey  departed  forth  of  the  tomb,  that  is,  from  that  spot  of 

23.        the  garden  which  was  before  the  tomb  hewn  in  the  rock. 

JEROME  ;  A  twofold  feeling  possessed  the  minds  of  the  women, 

fear  and  joy ;  fear,  at  the  greatness  of  the  miracle ;  joy,  in 

their  desire  of  Him  that  was  risen ;   but  both  added  speed 

to  their  women's  steps,  as  it  follows,  And  did  run  to  bring 

his  disciples  word.     They  went  to  the  Apostles,  that  through 

them  might  be  spread  abroad  the  seed  of  the  faith.     They 

who  thus  desired,  and  who  thus  ran,  merited  to  have  their 


VER.  8 — 10.  ST.  MATTHEW.  981 

rising  Lord  come  to  meet  them  ;  whence  it  follows,  And, 
behold,  Jesus  met  them,  saying,  All  hail.  RABAN.  Hereby 
He  shewed  that  He  will  meet  with  His  help  all  those  who 
begin  the  ways  of  virtue,  and  enable  them  to  attain  to 
everlasting  salvation.  JEROME  ;  The  women  ought  first 
to  hear  this  Hail,  that  the  curse  of  the  woman  Eve  may  be 
removed  in  these  women. 

CHRYSOL.  That  in  these  women  is  contained  a  full  figure  Chrysol. 
of  the  Church  is  shewn  hereby,  that  Christ  convinces  His^rm- 
disciples  when  in  doubt  concerning  the   Resurrection,  and 
confirms  them  when  in  fear ;  and  when  He  meets  them  He 
does  not  terrify  them  by  His  power,  but  prevents  them  with 
the   ardour   of  love.     And    Christ  in   His   Church   salutes 
Himself,  for  He  has  taken  it  into  His  own  Body.     AUG.  Aug. 
We  conclude  that  they  had  speech  of  Angels  twice  at  the u 
sepulchre ;    when   they  saw  one  Angel,  of  whom   Matthew 
and  Mark  speak  ;   and  again  when  they  saw  two  Angels,  as 
Luke  and  John  relate.     And  twice  in  like  manner  of  the 
Lord  ;  once  at  that  time  when  Mary  supposed  Him  to  be  the  John 
gardener,  and  now  again  when   He  met  them  in  the  way 20' l6' 
to  confirm  them  by  repetition,  and  to  restore  them  from  their 
faintness.     CHRYSOL.  Then  Mary  was  not  suffered  to  touch  Chrysol. 
Him  ;  now  she  has  permission  not  only  to  touch,  but  to  holdubl  sup' 
Him  altogether ;  they  came  and  held  him  by  the  feet,  and 
worshipped  him.     RABAN.   It  was  told  above  how  He  rose 
when  the    sepulchre  was   closed,   to    shew  that  that  body 
which  had  been  shut  up  therein  dead,  was  now  become 
immortal.     He  now  offers  His  feet  to  be  held  by  the  women, 
to  shew  that  He  had  real  flesh,  which  can  be  touched  by 
mortal  creatures.     CHRYSOL.   They  hold   Christ's  feet,  whochrysol. 
in  the  Church  present  the  type  of  Evangelic  preaching,  andubisup* 
merit  this  privilege  by  their  running  to  Him ;   and  by  faith 
so    detain  their    Saviour's   footsteps,  that  they   may    come 
to  the  honour  of  His  perfect  Godhead.     She  is  deservedly 
bid   to  touch  me  not,  who   mourns   her  Lord  upon  earth, 
and   so   seeks   Him   dead    in    the    tomb,    as   not   to   know 
that   He   reigns   in   heaven   with    the   Father.      This,    that 
the  same  Mary,  one  while  exalted  to  the  summit  of  faith, 
touches  Christ,  and  holds  Him  with  entire  and  holy  affec 
tion  ;     and    again,    cast    down    in    weakness    of    flesh,   and 


982  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVIII. 

womanly  infirmity,  doubts,  undeserving  to  touch  her  Lord, 
causes  us  no  difficulty.  For  that  is  of  mystery,  this  of  her 
sex;  that  is  of  divine  grace,  this  of  human  nature.  And 
so  also  we,  when  we  have  knowledge  of  divine  things,  live 
unto  God ;  when  we  are  wise  in  human  things,  we  are  blinded 

Chrysol.  by  our  own  selves.     ID.  They  held  His  feet  to  shew  that  the 

8o™*  head  of  Christ  is  the  man,  but  that  the  woman  is  in  Christ's 
feet,  and  that  it  was  given  to  them  through  Christ,  not  to  go 
before,  but  to  follow  the  man.  Christ  also  repeats  what  the 
Angel  had  said,  that  what  an  Angel  had  made  sure,  Christ 
might  make  yet  more  sure.  It  follows,  Then  saith  Jesus  unto 
them,  Fear  not.  JEROME  ;  This  may  be  always  observed,  both 
in  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  that  when  there  is  an 
appearance  of  any  majestic  person,  the  first  thing  done  is  to 
banish  fear,  that  the  mind  being  tranquillized  may  receive 
the  things  that  are  said.  HILARY;  The  same  order  as  of 
old  now  followed  in  the  reversal  of  our  woe,  that  whereas 
death  began  from  the  female  sex,  the  same  should  now  first 
see  the  glory  of  the  Resurrection,  and  be  made  the  messenger 
thereof.  Whence  the  Lord  adds,  Go  tell  my  brethren  that 

Chryso\.they  go  into   Galilee,  there  shall  they  see  me.     CHRYSOL. 

ubi  sup.  jje  ca|js  tjjgjjj  brethren  whom  He  has  made  akin  to  His 
own  body;  brethren  whom  the  generous  Heir  has  made 
His  co-heirs ;  brethren,  whom  He  has  adopted  to  be  sons 

Aug.  deof  His  own  Father.  AUG.  That  the  Lord,  both  by  His 
^iii  ovvn  mouth,  and  by  the  Angel,  directs  them  to  seek  for  Him, 
.  not  in  that  place  in  which  He  was  to  shew  Himself  first, 
but  in  Galilee,  makes  every  believer  anxious  to  understand 
in  what  mystery  it  is  spoken.  Galilee  is  interpreted  '  trans 
migration,'  or '  revelation ".'  And  according  to  the  first  inter 
pretation  what  meaning  offers  itself,  save  this,  that  the  grace 
of  Christ  was  to  pass  from  the  people  of  Israel  to  the  Gentiles, 
who  would  not  believe  when  the  Apostles  should  preach 
the  Gospel  to  them,  unless  the  Lord  Himself  should  first 
make  ready  their  way  in  the  hearts  of  men.  This  is  the 
signification  of  that,  He  shall  go  before  you  into  Galilee. 
There  shall  ye  see  him,  means,  there  shall  ye  find  His 

»  According  to  the  two  different  senses     coming  from  the  primitive   notion   of 
of  the   Hebrew  root  !"ft.S  '  migrating     '  making  bare.' 
from  a  country,"  or  '  revealing,'  both 


VER.  11 15.  ST.  MATTHEW. 

members,  there  shall  ye  perceive  His  living  Body  in  such 
as  shall  receive  you.  According  to  the  other  interpretation, 
*  revelation,'  it  is  to  be  understood,  ye  shall  see  him  no  longer 
in  the  form  of  a  servant,  but  in  that  in  which  He  is  equal 
with  the  Father.  That  revelation  will  be  the  true  Galilee, 
when  we  shall  be  like  him.  and  shall  see  him  as  he  is.  That }  J°hn 

•  **)   •"• 

will  be  the  blessed  passing  from  this  world  to  that  eternity. 

1 1 .  Now  when  they  were  going,  behold,  some  of 
the  watch  came  into  the  city,  and  shewed  unto  the 
Chief  Priests  all  the  things  that  were  done. 

12.  And  when  they  were  assembled  with  the  elders, 
and  had  taken  counsel,  they  gave  large  money  unto 
the  soldiers, 

13.  Saying,  Say  ye,  His  disciples  came  by  night, 
and  stole  him  away  while  we  slept. 

14.  And  if  this   come   to  the  governor's  ears,  we 
will  persuade  him,  and  secure  you. 

15.  So  they  took  the  money,  and  did  as  they  were 
taught :  and  this  saying  is  commonly  reported  among 
the  Jews  until  this  day. 

CHRYS.  Of  the  signs  which  were  shewn  around  Christ,  Chrys. 
some  were  common  to  the  whole  world,  as  the  darkness ;  some 
peculiar  to  the  watch,  as  the  wonderful  apparition  of  Angels, 
and  the  earthquake,  which  were  wrought  for  the  soldiers' 
sake,  that  they  might  be  stunned  with  amazement,  and  bear 
testimony  to  the  truth.  For  when  truth  is  proclaimed  by  its 
adversaries,  it  adds  to  its  brightness.  Which  befel  now; 
Some  of  the  watch  came  into  the  city,  and  shewed  unto  the 
Chief  Priests  all  the  things  that  were  done.  RABAN.  Simple 
minds,  and  unlearned  country-folk,  often  make  manifest 
without  guile  the  truth  of  a  matter,  as  the  thing  is ;  but  on 
the  other  hand,  a  crafty  wickedness  studies  how  to  recom 
mend  falsehood  by  glosing  words.  JEROME  ;  Thus  the  Chief 
Priests,  who  ought  to  have  been  by  this  turned  to  penitence, 
and  to  seek  Jesus  risen,  persevere  in  their  wickedness,  and 
convert  the  money  which  was  given  for  the  use  of  the  Temple 


984  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVIII. 

to  the  purchase  of  a  lie,  as  before  they  had  given  thirty  pieces 
Chrys.  of  silver  to  the  traitor  Judas.  CHRYSOL.  Not  content  to  have 
put  the  Master  to  death,  they  plot  how  they  may  destroy 
the  disciples,  and  make  the  Master's  power  matter  of  charge 
against  His  disciples.  The  soldiers  indeed  lost  Him,  the 
Jews  missed  Him,  but  the  disciples  carried  Him  away,  not 
by  theft,  but  by  faith ;  by  virtue,  and  not  by  fraud ;  by 
holiness,  and  not  by  wickedness;  alive,  and  not  dead.  CHRYS. 
How  should  the  disciples  carry  Him  away  by  stealth,  men 
poor,  and  of  no  station,  and  who  scarcely  dared  to  shew 
themselves  ?  They  fled  when  afterwards  they  saw  Christ 
alive,  how,  when  He  was  dead,  would  they  not  have  feared 
so  great  a  multitude  of  soldiers  ?  How  were  they  to  remove 
the  door  of  the  sepulchre  ?  One  might  have  done  it  unper- 
ceived  by  the  guard.  But  a  large  stone  was  rolled  to  the 
mouth  requiring  many  hands.  And  was  not  the  seal  thereon  ? 
And  why  did  they  not  attempt  it  the  first  night,  when  there 
was  none  at  the  sepulchre  ?  For  it  was  on  the  Sabbath 
that  they  begged  the  body  of  Jesus.  Moreover,  what  mean 
these  napkins  which  Peter  sees  laid  here?  Had  the  disciples 
stolen  the  Body,  they  would  never  have  stripped  it,  both 
because  it  might  so  receive  hurt,  and  cause  unnecessary 
delay  to  themselves,  and  so  expose  them  to  be  taken  by  the 
watch ;  especially  since  the  Body  and  clothes  were  covered 
with  myrrh,  a  glutinous  spice,  which  would  cause  them 
to  adhere.  The  allegation  of  the  theft  then  is  improbable. 
So  that  their  endeavours  to  conceal  the  Resurrection  do  but 
make  it  more  manifest.  For  when  they  say,  His  disciples 
stole  the  body,  they  confess  that  it  is  not  in  the  sepulchre. 
And  as  they  thus  confess  that  they  had  not  the  Body,  and 
as  the  watch,  the  sealing,  and  the  fears  of  the  disciples,  make 
the  theft  improbable,  there  is  seen  evidence  of  the  Resur 
rection  not  to  be  gainsaid.  REMIG.  But  if  the  guards 
slept,  how  saw  they  the  theft  ?  And  if  they  saw  it  not,  how 
could  they  witness  thereto  ?  So  that  what  they  desire  to  shew, 
Gloss.  tnev  cannot  shew.  GLOSS.  That  the  fear  of  the  Governor 
non  occ.  might  not  restrain  them  from  this  lie,  they  promise  them 
impunity.  CHRYS.  See  how  all  are  corrupted;  Pilate  per 
suaded  ;  the  people  stirred  up ;  the  soldiers  bribed ;  as  it 
follows,  And  they  took  the  money,  and  did  as  they  were 


VEH.  16 20.  ST.  MATTHEW.  985 

instructed.  If  money  prevailed  with  a  disciple  so  far  as  to 
make  him  become  the  betrayer  of  his  Master,  what  wonder 
that  the  soldiers  are  overcome  by  it.  HILARY  ;  The  con 
cealment  of  the  Resurrection,  and  the  false  allegation  of 
theft,  is  purchased  by  money;  because  by  the  honour  of  this 
world,  which  consists  in  money  and  desire,  Christ's  glory 
is  denied.  RABAN.  But  as  the  guilt  of  His  blood,  which 
they  imprecated  upon  themselves  and  their  children,  presses 
them  down  with  a  heavy  weight  of  sin,  so  the  purchase  of 
the  lie,  by  which  they  deny  the  truth  of  the  Resurrection, 
charges  this  guilt  upon  them  for  ever;  as  it  follows,  And 
this  saying  is  commonly  reported  among  the  Jews  until  this 
day.  CHRYSOL.  Among  the  Jews,  not  among  the  Christians ;  Chrysol. 
what  in  Judaea  the  Jew  concealed  by  his  gold,  is  by  faith  ubisuP- 
blazed  abroad  throughout  the  world. 

JEROME  ;  All  who  abuse  to  other  purposes  the  money  of 
the  Temple,  and  the  contributions  for  the  use  of  the  Church, 
purchasing  with  them  their  own  pleasure,  are  like  the  Scribes 
and  Priests  who  bought  this  lie,  and  the  blood  of  the  Saviour. 

16.  Then   the    eleven    disciples    went   away   into 
Galilee,  into  a  mountain  where  Jesus  had  appointed 
them. 

17.  And   when   they    saw   him,  they   worshipped 
him:  but  some  doubted. 

18.  And  Jesus  came  and  spake  unto  them,  saying, 
All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth. 

19.  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  bap 
tizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost : 

20.  Teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatso 
ever  I  have  commanded  you :  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you 
alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.     Amen. 


BEDE;  When  Saint  Matthew  has  vindicated  the  Lord's  <Beda, 

Resurrection  as  declared  by  the  Angel,  he  relates  the  vision inHom- 

J  f  non  occ 

of  the  Lord  which  the  disciples  had,  Then  the  eleven  disci 
ples  went   into  Galilee  into  a  mountain  where  Jesus  had 


986  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVIIf. 

appointed  them.     For  when  coming  to  His  Passion  the  Lord 

Matt,    had  said  to  His  disciples,  After  I  am  risen  I  will  go  before 

you  into  Galilee;  and  the  Angel  said  the  same  to  the  women. 

Therefore  the  disciples  obey  the  command  of  their  Master. 

Eleven  only  go,  for  one  had  already  perished.     JEROME; 

After  His  Resurrection,  Jesus  is  seen  and  worshipped  in  the 

mountain  in    Galilee;   though  some  doubt,  their   doubting 

confirms  our  faith.     REMIG.  This  is  more  fully  told  by  Luke; 

how  when  the  Lord  after  the  Resurrection  appeared  to  the  dis- 

Beda,    ciples,  in  their  terror  they  thought  they  saw  a  spirit.     BEDE  b. 

jEst!'in  The  Lord  appeared  to  them  in  the  mountain  to  signify,  that 

Fer.  vi.  His  Body  which  at  His  Birth  He  had  taken  of  the  common 

dust  of  the  human  race,  He  had  by  His  Resurrection  exalted 

above  all  earthly  things ;  and  to  teach  the  faithful  that  if  they 

desire  there  to  see  the  height  of  His  Resurrection,  they  must 

endeavour  here  to  pass  from  low  pleasures  to  high  desires. 

And  He   goes  before   His   disciples  into  Galilee,  because 

1  Cor.    Christ  is  risen  from  the  dead,  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  slept. 

'     '  And  they  that  are  Christ's  follow  Him,  and  pass  in  their  order 

from  death  to  life,  contemplating  Him  as  He  appears  with  His 

proper  Divinity.    And  it  agrees  with  this  that  Galilee  is  inter- 

Aug.     preted  '  revelation.'     AUG.  But  it  is  to  be  considered,  how  the 

deCons.Lor(j  couid  be  seen  bodily  in  Galilee.     For  that  it  was  not 

Ev.  111.  .     *  . 

25.  the  day  of  the  Resurrection  is  manifest;  for  He  was  seen  that 
day  in  Jerusalem  in  the  beginning  of  the  night,  as  Luke  and 
John  evidently  agree.  Nor  was  it  in  the  eight  following 
days,  after  which  John  says  that  the  Lord  appeared  to  His 
disciples,  and  when  Thomas  first  saw  Him,  who  had  not 
seen  Him  on  the  day  of  the  Resurrection.  For  if  within  these 
eight  days  the  eleven  had  seen  Him  on  a  mountain  in  Galilee, 
Thomas,  who  was  one  of  the  eleven,  could  not  have  seen  Him 
first  after  the  eight  days.  Unless  it  be  said,  that  the  eleven 
there  spoken  of  were  eleven  out  of  the  general  body  of  the 
disciples,  and  not  the  eleven  Apostles.  But  there  is  another 
difficulty.  John  having  related  that  the  Lord  was  seen  not 
in  the  mountain,  but  at  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  by  seven  who 
John  were  fishing,  adds,  This  is  now  the  third  time  that  Jesus 
21 » 14>  shewed  himself  to  his  disciples  after  he  was  risen  from  the 

b  This   Homily  of  Bede  (torn.   vii.     the  Commentary  of  Rabanus  on  this 
p.  12.)  is  word  for  word,  the  same  with    part  of  S.  Matthew. 


VER.   16 — 20.  ST.  MATTHEW.  087 

dead.  So  that  if  we  understand  the  Lord  to  have  been  seen 
within  those  eight  days  by  eleven  of  the  disciples,  this  mani 
festation  at  the  sea  of  Tiberias  will  be  the  fourth,  and  not  the 
third,  appearance.  Indeed,  to  understand  John's  account  at 
all  it  must  be  observed,  that  he  computes  not  each  appear 
ance,  but  each  day  on  which  Jesus  appeared,  though  He  may 
have  appeared  more  than  once  on  the  same  day ;  as  He  did 
three  times  on  the  day  of  His  Resurrection.  We  are  then 
obliged  to  understand  that  this  appearance  to  the  eleven  dis 
ciples  on  the  mountain  in  Galilee  took  place  last  of  all.  In 
the  four  Evangelists  we  find  in  all  ten  distinct  appearances  of 
Our  Lord  after  His  Resurrection.  1.  At  the  sepulchre  to 
the  women.  2.  To  the  same  women  on  their  way  back  from 
the  sepulchre.  3.  To  Peter.  4.  To  two  disciples  as  they 
went  into  the  country.  5.  To  many  together  in  Jerusalem ; 
6.  when  Thomas  was  not  with  them.  7.  At  the  sea  of  Tibe 
rias.  8.  At  the  mountain  in  Galilee,  according  to  Matthew. 
9.  To  the  eleven  as  they  sat  at  meat,  because  they  should  not  Mark 
again  eat  with  Him  upon  earth,  related  by  Mark.  10.  On  the 16' 14> 
day  of  His  Ascension,  no  longer  on  the  earth,  but  raised  aloft 
in  a  cloud,  as  related  by  both  Mark  and  Luke.  But  all  is  not 
written,  as  John  confesses,  for  He  had  much  conversation 
with  them  during  forty  days  before  His  ascension,  being  seen  Acts  i, 

o 

of  them,  and  speaking  unto  them  of  the  things  pertaining  to  ' 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

REMIG.    The  disciples  then,  when  they  saw  Him,  knew 
the  Lord ;   and  worshipped  Him,  bowing  their  faces  to  the 
ground.     And  He  their  affectionate  and  merciful  Master,  that 
He   might  take   away   all   doubtfulness  from   their   hearts, 
coming  to  them,  strengthened  them  in  their   belief;    as  it 
follows,  And  Jesus  came  and  spake  to  them,  saying,  All 
power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.     JEROME; 
Power  is  given  to  Him,  Who  but  a  little  before  was  crucified, 
Who  was  buried,  but  Who  afterwards  rose  again.     BEDE;Beda, 
This  He  speaks  not  from  the  Deity  coeternal  with  the  Father, Q 
but  from  the  Humanity  which  He  took  upon  Him,  according 
to   which   He   was   made  a  little   lower    than   the  Angels.  Heb.  2, 
CHRYSOL.  The  Son  of  God  conveyed  to  the  Son  of  the  Virgin,  ^ 
the  God  to  the  Man,  the  Deity  to  the  Flesh,  that  which  He  Serin. 

DA 

had  ever  together  with  the  Father.     JEROME  ;  Power  is  given 


988  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  CHAP.  XXVIII. 

in  heaven  and  in  earth,  that  He  who  before  reigned  in  heaven, 

should  now  reign  on  earth  by  the  faith  of  the  believers. 

REMIG.  What  the  Psalmist  says  of  the  Lord  at  His  rising 

P«.  8,6.  again,  Thou  madest  him  to  have  dominion  over  the  works  of 

thy  hands,  this  the  Lord  now  says  of  Himself,  All  power  is  given 

unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.    And  here  it  is  to  be  noted, 

that  even  before  His  resurrection  the  Angels  knew  that  they 

were  subjected  to  the  man  Christ.     Christ  then  desiring  that 

it  should  be  also  known  to  men  that  all  power  was  committed 

to  Him  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  sent  preachers  to  make  known 

the  word  of  life  to  all  nations;  whence  it  follows,  Go  ye  there- 

<Beda;/ore,  and  teach  all  nations.     BEDE;    He  who  before  His 

mm  occ.  Passion  had  said,  Go  not  into  the  way  of  the  Gentiles,  now, 

Matt,     when  rising  from  the  dead,  says,  Go  and  teach  all  nations. 

Hereby  let  the  Jews  be  put  to  silence,  who  say  that  Christ's 

coming  is  to  be  for  their  salvation  only.     Let  the  Donatists 

also  blush,  who,  desiring  to  confine  Christ  to  one  place,  have 

said  that  He  is  in  Africa  only,  and  not  in  other  countries. 

JEROME;    They  first   then   teach    all   nations,  and   when 
taught  dip  them  in  water.     For  it  may  not  be  that  the  body 
receive  the  sacrament  of  Baptism,  unless  the  soul  first  receive 
the  truth  of  the  Faith.     In  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  they  whose  Godhead  is  one  should 
be  conferred  at  once,  to  name  this  Trinity,  being  to  name 
Chrysol.  One  God.     CHRYSOL.   Thus  all  nations  are  created  a  second 
go™      time  to  salvation  by  that  one  and  the  same  Power,  which 
Didymi  created  them   to  being.     JEROME;   And  though  some  one 
de  SpYr  there  may  be  of  so  averse  a  spirit  as  to  undertake  to  baptize 
Sanct.    in  such  sort  as  to  omit  one  of  these  names,  therein  con 
tradicting  Christ  Who   ordained  this  for  a  law,  his  baptism 
will  effect  nothing ;  those  who  are  baptized  by  him  will  not 
be  at  all  delivered  from  their  sins.     From  these  words  we 
gather  how  undivided  is  the  substance  of  the  Trinity,  that 
the  Father  is  verily  the  Father  of  the  Son,  and  the  Son  verily 
the  Son  of  the  Father,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  the  Spirit  of  both 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  also  the  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  of 
truth,  that  is,  of  the  Son  of  God.     This  then  is  the  salvation 
of  them   that  believe,  and  in   this  Trinity  is  wrought  the 
Hil.  de  perfect  communication  of  ecclesiastical  discipline.      HILARY  ; 
1  &c  "'  For  what  part  of  the  salvation  of  men  is  there  that  is  not 


VER.   16 — 20.  ST.  MATTHKW.  989 

contained  in  this  Sacrament  ?  All  things  are  full  and  perfect,  as 
proceeding  from  Him  who  is  full  and  perfect.  The  nature  of 
His  relation  is  expressed  in  the  title  Father ;  but  He  is  nothing 
but  Father ;  for  not  after  the  manner  of  men  does  He  derive 
from  somewhat  else  that  He  is  Father,  being  Himself  Unbe- 
gotten,  Eternal,  and  having  the  source  of  His  being  in  Himself, 
known  to  none,  save  the  Son.  The  Son  is  the  Offspring  of  the 
Unbegotten,  One  of  the  One,  True  of  the  True,  Living  of  the 
Living,  Perfect  of  the  Perfect,  Strength  of  Strength,  Wisdom 
of  Wisdom,  Glory  of  Glory ;  the  Image  of  the  Unseen  God, 
the  Form  of  the  Unbegotten  Father.  Neither  can  the  Holy 
Spirit  be  separated  from  the  confession  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son.  And  this  consolation  of  our  longing  desires  is  absent 
from  no  place.  He  is  the  pledge  of  our  hope  in  the  effects 
of  His  gifts,  He  is  the  light  of  our  minds,  He  shines  in  our 
souls.  These  things  as  the  heretics  cannot  change,  they 
introduce  into  them  their  human  explanations.  As  Sabellius 
who  identifies  the  Father  with  the  Son,  thinking  the  distinc 
tion  to  be  made  rather  in  name  than  in  person,  and  setting 
forth  one  and  the  same  Person  as  both  Father  and  Son.  As 
Ebion,  who  deriving  the  beginning  of  His  existence  from 
Mary,  makes  Him  not  Man  of  God,  but  God  of  man.  As 
the  Arians,  who  derive  the  form,  the  power,  and  the  wisdom 
of  God  out  of  nothing,  and  in  time.  What  wonder  then  that 
men  should  have  diverse  opinions  about  the  Holy  Spirit,  who 
thus  rashly  after  their  own  pleasure  create  and  change  the 
Son,  by  whom  that  Spirit  is  bestowed  ? 

JEROME;  Observe  the  order  of  these  injunctions.  He  bids 
the  Apostles  first  to  teach  all  nations,  then  to  wash  them 
with  the  sacrament  of  faith,  and  after  faith  and  baptism  then 
to  teach  them  what  things  they  ought  to  observe ;  Teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded 
you.  RABAN.  For  as  the  body  without  the  spirit  is  dead,  James 
so  faith  without  works  is  dead  also.  CHRYS.  And  because  2>  26- 
what  He  had  laid  upon  them  was  great,  therefore  to  exalt 
their  spirits  He  adds,  And,  lo,  lam  with  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world.  As  much  as  to  say,  Tell  Me  not  of 
the  difficulty  of  these  things,  seeing  I  am  with  you,  Who  can 
make  all  things  easy.  A  like  promise  He  often  made  to  the 
Prophets  in  the  Old  Testament,  to  Jeremiah  who  pleaded  his 


980  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  MATTHEW.        CHAP.  XXVIII. 

youth,  to  Moses,  and  to  Ezekiel,  when  they  would  have 
shunned  the  office  imposed  upon  them.  And  not  with  them 
only  does  He  say  that  He  will  be,  but  with  all  who  shall 
believe  after  them.  For  the  Apostles  were  not  to  continue 
till  the  end  of  the  world,  but  He  says  this  to  the  faithful  as 
to  one  body.  RABAN.  Hence  we  understand  that  to  the  end 
of  the  world  shall  not  be  wanting  those  who  shall  be  worthy 
of  the  Divine  indwelling.  CHRYS.  He  brings  before  them 
the  end  of  the  world,  that  He  may  the  more  draw  them  on, 
and  that  they  may  not  look  merely  to  present  inconveniences, 
but  to  the  infinite  goods  to  come.  As  much  as  to  say,  The 
grievous  things  which  you  shall  undergo,  terminate  with  this 
present  life,  seeing  that  even  this  world  shall  come  to  an  end, 
but  the  good  things  which  ye  shall  enjoy  endure  for  ever. 
*  Beda  BEDE  ;  It  is  made  a  question  how  He  says  here,  /  am  with 
uonocc.y°w>  when  we  read  elsewhere  that  He  said,  /  go  unto  him 


that  sent  me.     What  is  said  of  His  human  nature  is  distinct 

Hi,  5. 

from  what  is  said  of  His  divine  nature.  He  is  going  to 
His  Father  in  His  human  nature,  He  abides  with  His 
disciples  in  that  form  in  which  He  is  equal  with  the  Father. 
When  He  says,  to  the  end  of  the  world,  He  expresses  the 
infinite  by  the  finite;  for  He  who  remains  in  this  present 
world  with  His  elect,  protecting  them,  the  same  will  con 
tinue  with  them  after  the  end,  rewarding  them.  JEROME  ; 
He  then  who  promises  that  He  will  be  with  His  disciples 
to  the  end  of  the  world,  shews  both  that  they  shall 
live  for  ever,  and  that  He  will  never  depart  from  those 
Leo,  that  believe.  LEO;  For  by  ascending  into  heaven  He 
does  not  desert  His  adopted;  but  from  above  strengthens 
to  endurance,  those  whom  He  invites  upwards  to  glory. 
Of  which  glory  may  Christ  make  us  partakers, 
Who  is  the  King  of  glory, 
God  blessed  for  ever, 
AMEN. 


BAXTER,  PRINTER,  OXFORD. 


BS 


Thomas  Aquinas 


2555 
.A2T49 


Catena  Aurea 


^K*fT 
v.  1 


1  10773 


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